A Detailed Comparative Study of Windows and Linux Operating Systems

This report provides a comprehensive comparison of Windows and Linux operating systems, examining their process and control management, scheduling and thread management, file management, and access control mechanisms. The analysis delves into the specifics of each OS, highlighting differences in process creation, scheduling algorithms, and file handling methods. Furthermore, the report explores security vulnerabilities and attack vectors specific to both Windows and Linux environments, offering insights into potential threats and available countermeasures. The conclusion synthesizes the findings, emphasizing the distinct strengths and weaknesses of each operating system and their implications for various applications. The report uses multiple sources like journals and books to support the analysis.

Operating Systems

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Process and Control Management - ............................................................................................3
Scheduling and Thread Management -........................................................................................3
File management and access control - ........................................................................................4
Vulnerabilities and Attack Vectors and their available countermeasures - ................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Operating system is the system software which manages computer software, hardware resources
and providing common services for programming computer. Every computer must consist an one
single OS for running other programs.
Window and Linux are the two operating systems which are popularly used worldwide .
The windows can be used by individuals and professional both but the Linux is only used by
professionals. The above study includes the process and control management of Linux and
Windows. The scheduling and thread management of the both. The study further carried forward
with the file management and access control and discussing the vulnerabilities and the attack
vectors for Linux and Windows. The report ends with the Countermeasures for attack vectors.
MAIN BODY
Process and Control Management -
The process and control management of Windows have a single base priority value,
where each threads consist of two priority values that is current and base. Scheduling decisions
are formed on the basis of current priority. The process and control management include the
process creation and termination under the Windows Operating System. Process Scheduling and
dispatching the data which are available. Process switching is to be considered. Process
synchronization and support for inter-process communication. And management of the process
control blocks(Hahm and et.al., 2015).
Process and control management of Linux is case in point. The Linux develops a process
whenever program is launched either by anyone or by Linux itself. The process is container of
information about how the program can be run and what is happening. The process management
of Linux includes – Evaluating which process is running. Accessing that how much of the Linux
system which are processing are used. Locating particular process after seeing what is to be
taken in action. Changing and defining the level of priority which are associated with that
particular process. Termination of process that if it has been outlined its usefulness or whether it
is misbehaving(Saraf and et.al., 2018).
Scheduling and Thread Management -
This section explains the Windows scheduling algorithms and policies. The first
subsection avails condensed statement of how work is scheduled on Windows and key terms are
defined. Then the priority levels of Windows are described from Windows Kernel and Window

API point of view. After review the relevant functions of Windows and utilities & tools of
Windows which are related to scheduling, the detailed structure and algorithms of data which
form the scheduling system of Windows which are presented. With the uniprocessor systems
which are examined first and then multiprocessor systems.
Linux has an unique implementation and scheduling of threads. To the Linux Kernel, as
there is no concept for thread. The scheduling of threats by Linux as standard processes. It does
not provide any specific scheduling data or semantic structure for representing threads. A thread
is a process which shares several resources along with other processes. Each of the thread
consists of unique task-structure and which is appear to Kernel as the normal process. This
approach greatly contrast with the Microsoft Window or Sun Solaris, that has explicit Kernel
supports for threads. The “Lightweight process” is sum up with differences to the philosophies
among Linux and other systems. For Linux threads are simply the manner of sharing resources
among processes(Tanenbaum and Bos, 2015).
File management and access control -
File management in the windows is generally done with the help of windows explored or
the My computer. The windows explorer displays the list of various files, folders in the
hierarchical order and thus helps in managing the files as well as the storage drives in the proper
manner. It is also involved in listing the different network drives which are being mapped as the
drive letter within the computers. Whenever the files as well as the folders are being deleted for
the hard disk then windows places those within the recycle bin which is later on used by the
users to retrieve those files. On the other hand, access control is basically the feature which
control the access of the various resources within the operating system. It monitors the people
who can have the control over various applications as well as resources. Generally the computers
which runs on the supported version of the windows Can be controlled with the use of different
systems as well as network resources with the help of some interrelated mechanism the
authentication. Once the user is being authenticated, the operating system of windows utilizes the
built-in authorization as well as access the different control technologies to formulate the next
phase of securing resources(Muhammad, Real and Homer, 2019).
Linux is basically the operating system which works on Graphical user interface(GUI).
Unlike the operating system of windows within which the most of the work is done through few
clicks, Linux involves commands for everything such as file manipulations, extraction of the

files etc. These commands generally runs on the Linux command that is known by the name of
Terminal. Because of the large amount of data, a great amount of the files as well as folders
remain present in the system. Therefore, it becomes complicated for the users to find as well as
manage the particular file. Thus, they take the helps of GUI for the management of their file. The
various commands form them offers flexibility along with the higher speed where the users can
get the efficient and meaningful results. Thus, Linux helps in accessing the control through a
well-defined structure. Linux is basically used to provide different outcomes which is then used
to drive the different results(Soldani and Manzalini, 2015).
Vulnerabilities and Attack Vectors and their available countermeasures -
Attack vector analysis is the important section of vulnerability analysis. And the
vulnerability analyst work is to access the attack vectors for potential vulnerabilities. For
example, With Microsoft Outlook reading and email message cab used as attack vector for
Microsoft Jet Engine stack butter overflow. In this case it is the analysis of of various attack
vectors, not underlying vulnerabilities., which is helpful in improving severity. In MS13-023,
Microsoft founds a vulnerability in their software named as Visio Viewer 2010. Both Office
2010 Filter Pack and Visio Viewer 2010 software has been affected in the software table. It was
indicated by Microsoft that Maximum Security Impact of Filter Pack was none and concluded a
Caveat. Placing malformed Visio file in location which is indexed by Windows search is all that
reuired for triggering vulnerability. Beside Window search, iFilters can be used by another
products, consisting Microsoft Internet Server (IIS), Exchange Server, SharePoint Portal server
and SQL Server. All of that are consists of viable attack vectors. After accessing that with
Microsoft, it is acknowledged the oversight and updating MS13-023 bulletin(Comer, 2015).
An attack is the actual act which is a threat agent against assets of information system.
The particular path which can be used by the attackers for targeting is called attack vectors. The
three main types of attack vectors of Linux are – Network, Host and Application. The Network
threads refers to the threats against network of the particular organization. The Host threads are
the threads which are against the host, including the operating system and hardware. Whereas the
Application threads is refer to threads against the system programming. The Linux uses the
Enumeration as the attacker for the successful attack. It is very critical phase in the hacking
system, it is important part of the gathering information. Under this phase, the connection is
established by attacker among the target and them which can be remotely and locally for

gathering information which is possible for deciding on the attack by vector. For enumerating the
Linux host, the utility can be used LinEnum for safeguarding the data of the system(Silberschatz,
Gagne and Galvin, 2018).
CONCLUSION
From the above study it is concluded that Windows and Linux are two operating system
which have an different operating system along with different management and accessing system
which is helpful for the individual and professional in programming their data and software.
There are many effective measures are to be taken by these operating system for accessing to
attack vectors and further the measures are propounded to solve that bugs in the system.
Operating system is very popular and useful system in the world and access daily by millions of
users professionally, individually etc., It is very important for these system to be up to dated so
that it can be helpful for the users to access with it easily.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Silberschatz, A., Gagne, G. and Galvin, P. B., 2018. Operating system concepts. Wiley.
Comer, D., 2015. Operating system design: the XINU approach. Chapman and Hall/CRC.
Soldani, D. and Manzalini, A., 2015. Horizon 2020 and beyond: On the 5G operating system for
a true digital society. IEEE Vehicular Technology Magazine. 0(1). pp.32-42.
Tanenbaum, A. S. and Bos, H., 2015. Modern operating systems. Pearson.
Saraf, S and et.al., 2018. Apparatuses, systems and methods of switching operating systems.
Hahm, O and et.al., 2015. Operating systems for low-end devices in the internet of things: a
survey. IEEE Internet of Things Journal. 3(5). pp.720-734.
Muhammad, H., Real, L. C. V. and Homer, M., 2019, October. Taxonomy of Package
Management in Programming Languages and Operating Systems. In Proceedings of the
10th Workshop on Programming Languages and Operating Systems. (pp. 60-66). ACM.