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Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) vs Windows 10 comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 7, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
7.4
RHEL offers significant cost savings, efficiency, and reliability over alternatives, enhancing productivity and reducing operational expenses.
Sentiment score
3.6
Windows 10 offers improved efficiency, security, and performance over Windows 7, making it a valuable and worthwhile investment.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux has saved us time and increased productivity.
Using Red Hat Enterprise Linux can yield resource savings of 200 percent to 300 percent compared to Windows Server instances.
If you are using the service properly, especially in cloud computing, understanding the services you are using and what technology and applications are required can help manage your ROI very efficiently.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.7
RHEL support is generally praised for expertise and responsiveness, though initial challenges improve with escalation and prioritization.
Sentiment score
5.2
Many Windows 10 users prefer online forums for support, finding Microsoft helpful, but often solve issues independently.
They respond immediately based on the SLA level.
The technical support is excellent.
They promptly addressed my concerns regarding permission issues when I contacted them.
We have informed Microsoft, but the issue is still there, and it has been more than three to four months.
The customer service and support from Microsoft are quite responsive and generally good.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
Red Hat Enterprise Linux excels in scalability, adaptability, and seamless integration across diverse environments, supporting large enterprise applications efficiently.
Sentiment score
7.7
Windows 10 is scalable and flexible, easily accommodating increased usage and integrating well with other Microsoft products like Azure.
There are no issues with scalability when it comes to Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
Each computer has at least 24 to 72 CPUs in it, and everything runs on Red Hat Enterprise Linux or Rocky.
Switching between vendors requires a significant migration effort.
For scalability, I would rate it a nine or ten because performance-wise, Windows 10 has never given me those issues.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.3
RHEL is renowned for its stability and reliability, offering minimal downtime, long uptimes, and ease of maintenance.
Sentiment score
6.7
Windows 10 offers stability and reliability, though updates can be disruptive, with mixed reviews on performance and adaptability.
It works consistently with minimal downtime and very few bugs or glitches.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux offers great stability and performance compared to other operating systems.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is very stable.
The challenges were related to third-party agents and their supportability.
I would rate the stability of the product an eight.
 

Room For Improvement

RHEL needs improvements in upgrades, user-friendliness, documentation, pricing, support, security, and accessible, affordable training options.
Windows 10 requires better stability and performance, with improvements in updates, interface, security, resource usage, and app compatibility.
Addressing these limitations would significantly enhance the operating system's flexibility and efficiency.
The built-in security features of Red Hat Enterprise Linux were insufficient for our needs, necessitating the implementation of supplementary security measures.
By providing pre-installed, native automation tools within the operating system, Red Hat would streamline processes and improve user efficiency.
Microsoft can improve their Teams product because everybody uses Teams, and it's very clunky and unfriendly in terms of scrolling back, downloading files, and moving back and forth within the different teams.
Investment in Windows 10 may not be ideal as the world is changing with advancing technology in the AI age.
The transitions within Teams are not smooth, and call quality in meetings is not great.
 

Setup Cost

RHEL offers strong support and stability but high licensing costs challenge smaller businesses compared to Ubuntu or CentOS.
Enterprise users find Windows 10 licensing complex yet necessary, favoring bundled solutions for cost-effectiveness and appreciating its functionality.
It may be considered expensive compared to other solutions like CentOS or Ubuntu, which offer some of the same features without additional costs.
Its pricing has room for improvement because it's more expensive in the local market due to purchasing power parity in India.
Windows Servers base their cost on the number of users and have high licensing fees, while Red Hat Enterprise Linux offers free versions alongside its paid, supported versions.
For those buying a Windows license, it might be better to buy a Windows 11 license.
Windows is considered overpriced, especially given the normal software functionalities.
Windows 10 is cost-effective when compared to other competitors available such as Mac and Linux.
 

Valuable Features

Red Hat Enterprise Linux excels in stability, security, and flexibility, with strong support, automation tools, and comprehensive documentation.
Windows 10 offers user-friendly features, security, seamless Office integration, and compatibility, enhancing productivity and overall user experience.
It also has strong security features, is OIS and FIPS certified, and has built-in Linux security configurations.
There is also no downtime.
The operating system allows for the simple addition of kernels, modules, and other applications, making it highly adaptable to various needs.
When using mapping software such as QGIS or ArcGIS, the system remains stable, especially when handling heavy files.
The configuration management tools, such as SACM, are effective.
Windows 11 brings some AI features for Microsoft Copilot, which probably weren't as integrated into the previous version.
 

Categories and Ranking

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (R...
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
1st
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
277
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Windows 10
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
8th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.3
Number of Reviews
277
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category, the mindshare of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is 9.6%, down from 12.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Windows 10 is 2.9%, down from 4.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Operating Systems (OS) for Business
 

Featured Reviews

Bruce Lundberg - PeerSpot reviewer
Reliable patch management, high uptime, and incredible knowledge base
In terms of security, it does a lot of things that most people still turn off. SELinux is turned on by default. They have pretty good firewall rules in their defaults. The audit rules always take tweaking, but, overall, it comes out of the box not too bad. I used to write scripts to harden them from there. There are multiple ways to provision and patch. You have everything from local repositories to doing it by hand. Their knowledge base is incredible. There is so much information out there. It has never taken me longer than 30 minutes to find an answer to anything, even very tough ones. One company I worked for was a security company, and we did a lot of patching on everything. It was designed around security and email hosting, and uptime was pretty much whatever we wanted it to be. I have had a couple of times when the uptime was bad, but it was caused by a third-party solution. In fact, the Norton antivirus was definitely the worst. Red Hat had nothing to do with it.
Akos Szirmai - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy installation and the initial setup time is reasonable
Stability can be an issue. I have to restart it every two days. And the boot time is quite long. My laptop's old, has no SSD, and is just a traditional Winchester. Had desktops with Windows 11 and SSDs, much better performance. But hardware limitations on my current laptop lead to stability and response issues. It's more like the whole reinstall every two years thing. It makes cleaning a pain. Performance improves significantly after a fresh install, then slowly deteriorates as I add more programs. But my biggest concern with Windows 10 is actually bigger than my situation. I'm replacing my laptop anyway, but I read that Windows 10 support ends in a year or so. And with hardware limitations, many other computers won't run Windows 11. So it's not just me. A lot of people with decent, still-working Windows 10 machines will lose support and be unable to switch to 11. This will be a significant problem for individuals and institutions. Large companies with thousands of computers don't replace them every three years, and they might face issues with many computers unable to run Windows 11 and lacking support for 10.
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Comparison Review

it_user281973 - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 24, 2017
It's improved our company's system environments that run Oracle databases.
Red Hat is mission critical to our environment Red Hat has improved the mission critical environments running Oracle databases, while CentOS has improved our web environment and MySQL. Oracle and SAP Environment and all HPC environments. 10 years No issues Very stable i don´t find any problem…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
9%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
University
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Which would you choose - RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux) or CentOS?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is fantastic. It is an inexpensive solution that has excellent security, performance, and stability, and also lots of features. I specifically like that the solution has fe...
What do you like most about Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)?
It is open source. We can customize it as per our requirements.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)?
Though a bit expensive compared to competitors, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is still recommended because it works effectively and delivers value for its pricing.
What needs improvement with Windows 10?
Windows 10 is quite old, and Windows 11 has newer features such as Copilot. Investment in Windows 10 may not be ideal as the world is changing with advancing technology in the AI age. It is general...
What is your primary use case for Windows 10?
I use Windows 10 as an operating system for my personal computer. Currently, I am using Windows 11.
 

Also Known As

Red Hat Enterprise Linux, RHEL
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Travel Channel, Mohawk Industries, Hilti, Molecular Health, Exolgan, Hotelplan Group, Emory University, BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina, HCA Healthcare, Paychex, UPS, Intermountain Healthcare, Brinker International, TransUnion, Union Bank, CA Technologies
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) vs. Windows 10 and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
851,491 professionals have used our research since 2012.