We performed a comparison between Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Windows Server based on our users’ reviews in four categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Users of Windows Server 2016 feel that it is a very user-friendly solution. Furthermore, they note that its active directory feature is highly valuable. They also note that it is highly scalable. However, many users feel that its security capabilities could be greatly improved. They also feel that the graphical interface could be better.
Comparison of Results: Based on the parameters we compared, Red Hat Enterprise Linux seems to be a slightly superior solution. All other things being more or less equal, our reviewers found Windows Server 2016 rather expensive to purchase and not as secure as it should be.
"The solution is very stable, reliable, easy to use, and has good technical support."
"RHEL is the most reliable Linux flavor in terms of enterprise governance. I prefer it for its code stability, support, and integration. The lifecycle management features help us maintain compliance and keep the components updated."
"The security it provides is one of the most important features, as are the support and the documentation. The latter helps me to do everything."
"One pro is that at the operating system layer, like, RHEL has better support from Red Hat, and if something goes down, I found many resources for troubleshooting and stuff online."
"Red Hat Enterprise Linunx's most valuable feature is patching."
"Red Hat has introduced a fast server, where Red Hat Enterprise Linux can be integrated or connected to via a client."
"The solution is useful for application support and automations."
"Support has a fast response time."
"I like the fact that Windows Server is user friendly."
"We have been using this solution for a long time and it has been stable."
"The Active Directory and the applications where the server is installed are the most valuable features."
"This is quite a stable product."
"We have had no problems with Windows Server and we plan to continue using it in the future."
"The performance is very good."
"Operating system with a good interface that can run applications."
"We have not contacted technical support."
"The solution is moving away from CentOS and there are growing pains from the customer's perspective."
"Red Hat Insights are instrumental in identifying vulnerabilities. I am still learning, but my understanding is that it is not directly connected to your environment to deploy a patch or vulnerability fix. It is going to give a YAML playbook to do that. It does not actually execute it."
"Maybe they need to make it easier to apply patches from different resources. That said, at my level of usage, I never have to apply patches."
"Considering an area where the solution lacks, I think we can look into a lot more automation and integrations with Red Hat Enterprise Linux and other products."
"When there is downtime from a system admin perspective, this solution could improve how they communicate why this down time is happening."
"I use Linux on Satellite with Ansible infrastructure. It would be great if there were a universal interface to control RHEL's policy from Satellite. It could be a dashboard showing which policies were enabled on what system and allow you to apply them from the dashboard."
"It is a bit on the pricier side. However, due to the stability and support that they provide to my management and me, we really don't see a reason to choose another way to go. It is hard to get good support."
"Some of the repositories and some of the DNS versions are very old. I just deployed something using Ruby and the DNS stable repository was sufficiently old that the Ruby project I was using didn't work."
"Overall, from a security perspective, Microsoft needs to improve."
"The price should be reduced."
"It could be more secure. We don't like it because if you compare it to Linux, Linux is better."
"Windows Server could always be more secure."
"I would like Windows to come up lighter because the footprint itself can consume more than 300GB. It would probably take close to 100GB of space to install a Windows operating system because it has got so many features."
"Sometimes we face some overload on the server."
"But one issue I have with Windows Server is the limit on the number of concurrent sessions. You cannot have more than three simultaneous users unless you activate a license. You have to install it so that more people can access the applications simultaneously."
"Windows Server could be improved with cheaper licensing costs."
More Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Pricing and Cost Advice →
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is ranked 1st in Operating Systems (OS) for Business with 179 reviews while Windows Server is ranked 4th in Operating Systems (OS) for Business with 180 reviews. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is rated 8.8, while Windows Server is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) writes "Highly stable, good knowledge base, and reasonable price". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Windows Server writes "Easy to setup, stable and caters to my wide range of use cases but lacks user-friendly interface". Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is most compared with Ubuntu Linux, SUSE Linux Enterprise, Windows 10, Oracle Linux and CentOS, whereas Windows Server is most compared with Ubuntu Linux, Windows 10, Oracle Linux, Windows 11 and CentOS. See our Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) vs. Windows Server report.
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We monitor all Operating Systems (OS) for Business reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.