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Amazon Linux vs Windows 11 comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
4.8
Amazon Linux boosts ROI with cost savings, improved performance, scalability, rapid deployment, and enhanced AWS integration ensuring reliability.
Sentiment score
5.1
Windows 11 offers user-friendliness, stability, and cost-effective upgrades, enhancing efficiency and ROI for many companies.
With Amazon Linux, selecting and launching instances on a public cloud provider means the machine spins up in fewer than ten seconds, making it efficient.
Cloud Solution Engineer at a outsourcing company with 10,001+ employees
By switching the compute fleet from a paid distribution to Amazon Linux, we have reduced our OS-related overhead cost by 100%.
System engineer at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
Some wins commonly seen after switching, particularly when moving from general-purpose distributions such as Ubuntu, include approximately twenty to forty percent better price-performance ratio.
configuration and management deployment at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
It has definitely saved time and generated a return on investment as well.
Presales Engineer at Crayon AS
I believe we have seen a return on investment from using Windows 11 since our company is primarily a software house where most costs stem from salaries and licenses.
Software Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.3
Amazon Linux support is highly rated for its fast response, knowledgeable engineers, and comprehensive documentation and resources.
Sentiment score
5.2
Windows 11 support experiences vary, with some appreciating efficient assistance and others encountering delays or using internal resources.
Amazon has the best expertise and they are available 24/7.
IT Analyst | Aws Cloud Ops | Dev Ops | Fin Ops at Tata Consultancy
Timely and helpful responses for performance, updates, or AWS integration issues.
QA Engineer at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
It offers specific advantages and constraints depending on the use case.
Cloud Architect at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
The technical support team’s response time is very slow.
Senior Technical Manager at Peristent Systems
We have an internal team that supports all the Microsoft issues within the system.
Chief Executive Officer at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.1
Amazon Linux efficiently scales workloads via AWS integration, offering reliable performance and quick response to traffic spikes.
Sentiment score
6.3
Windows 11 offers scalable solutions for enterprises, excelling in vertical scaling while requiring Windows Server for horizontal expansion.
Since it is tightly integrated with AWS services, I can easily scale instances up or down based on demand using EC2 auto-scaling and load balancing.
Technical Team Lead - Content Security at Valuepoint Systems
Its real scalability comes from its seamless integration with AWS tools like CloudFormation, Auto Scaling, and user data scripts, which allow me to deploy and configure hundreds of identical ready-to-use instances automatically.
Student at Unemployed at the moment
The beauty here is that we can scale it immediately, which also saves cost.
IT Analyst | Aws Cloud Ops | Dev Ops | Fin Ops at Tata Consultancy
We faced challenges integrating it in multi-app environments, requiring complex API setups.
Associate Vice President at Rishabh Software
The solution's scalability is good because it allows you to run a large number of virtual machines.
Senior Technical Manager at Peristent Systems
It scales well vertically, so a single machine can be very powerful without reaching its limits.
Software Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.5
Amazon Linux offers exceptional stability, reliability, and security, seamlessly integrating with AWS services for highly available, resilient performance.
Sentiment score
6.7
Windows 11 is praised for stability and performance, though some users face update issues and prefer Windows 10.
Combined with AWS managed infrastructure, it provides enterprise-grade reliability suitable for production workloads.
Software Engineer at INSTITUTE OF AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING
Since it is purpose-built for the cloud, it lacks the bloat of traditional desktop-focused distributions, which leads to fewer crashes and higher uptime.
System engineer at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
Compared to other Linux distributions, Amazon Linux is significantly more stable for AWS workloads because it is pre-optimized for EC2 hypervisor and includes integrated AWS tools out of the box.
FullStack Developer at EnactOn Technologies
The solution's high level of stability ensures that the machine doesn't go down multiple times.
Senior Technical Manager at Peristent Systems
The stability can be influenced by the status and specifications of our company PCs.
IT Specialist at EMA
Regarding stability, I would say the Slack issue which I found; other than that, I think all of the other things are pretty smooth.
S QA Engineer at 7Vals
 

Room For Improvement

Amazon Linux enhancements focus on documentation, package availability, migration support, and improved usability for broader adoption and engagement.
Windows 11 needs better integration, security, performance, and AI features while addressing stability, compatibility, and cost issues.
Documentation explaining the differences between Ubuntu and Amazon Linux would be valuable.
full stack developer at 71Lbs
Since we are working in a real-time manner and need to scale things immediately, the time it takes to boot an instance and then deploy things is preventing me from giving it a perfect rating.
Senior Data Engineer at a transportation company with 501-1,000 employees
My advice for others looking into using Amazon Linux is to make sure the command line is easy and that Amazon Linux has more performance than other Linux environments and is more secure than other Linux environments as well.
DevOps Engineer at Wissen infotech
For a better experience, Windows 11 should be improved to take fewer resources.
Delivery Manager at Ford Motor Company
The needed improvements in Windows 11 include that the Copilot integration needs a better user interface experience with rich features, alongside making a very simple UI experience as well.
Presales Engineer at Crayon AS
It still feels more oriented toward consumer use rather than enterprise use, and the company is forced to maintain extensive backward compatibility, which creates technical debt.
Software Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
 

Setup Cost

Amazon Linux offers cost-effective, scalable solutions without licensing fees, making it a budget-friendly choice for enterprises.
Enterprise feedback on Windows 11 pricing varies, with opinions split between seeing it as costly and reasonably priced.
With Amazon Linux itself, there is no cost associated with using it, so I would say it is very good from a pricing perspective.
Cloud Ops Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
If I am a new AWS customer, the AWS Free Tier typically includes, for the first six months, micro instances such as t2.micro or t3.micro for free.
Software Engineer at INSTITUTE OF AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING
I only pay for the EC2 instance and any other AWS resources I use, but the operating system itself has no licensing fees, which is a significant advantage over commercial operating systems like Red Hat Enterprise Linux or Windows servers, which incur extra hourly charges.
Student at Unemployed at the moment
I have a university license, so I do not pay anything for Windows 11.
Associate Professor at a educational organization with 501-1,000 employees
The licensing is expensive, but it's value for money.
Associate Vice President at Rishabh Software
We use a cracked version of Windows, so there are no licensing costs.
IT Specialist at EMA
 

Valuable Features

Amazon Linux, optimized for AWS, offers robust security, cost-effectiveness, and seamless integration, enhancing deployment confidence and reducing overhead.
Windows 11 enhances productivity with features like snap layouts, improved security, seamless multitasking, and development tools integration.
Amazon Linux handles this automatically. It is optimized for EC2, AWS hardware and software, mostly secure and stable, and there is no additional cost.
IT Analyst | Aws Cloud Ops | Dev Ops | Fin Ops at Tata Consultancy
In terms of service security, there are many constraint security protocols and policies that help me create our own networks, security groups, and inline policies.
Software Engineer at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Amazon Linux's security updates have been helpful in general because I have had to be more specific in using the Identity Access Management (IAM) service so that we can have role-based permissions in preference to just keeping it open.
Fullstack Developer at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
The solution is fast, doesn't get hung, and minimizes operational issues, which improves the end user's productivity.
Senior Technical Manager at Peristent Systems
We use it for the validation of our data and code, or even code generation.
VP & GM, Client Storage at Micron Technology
It has good security features, providing strong protection against platform viruses and vulnerabilities, which secures my resources.
IT Specialist at EMA
 

Categories and Ranking

Amazon Linux
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
14th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
47
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Windows 11
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
5th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
52
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category, the mindshare of Amazon Linux is 1.7%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Windows 11 is 7.5%, up from 7.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Operating Systems (OS) for Business Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Windows 117.5%
Amazon Linux1.7%
Other90.8%
Operating Systems (OS) for Business
 

Featured Reviews

Saurab Gnagurde - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Analyst | Aws Cloud Ops | Dev Ops | Fin Ops at Tata Consultancy
“Amazon Linux delivers automated security updates— including live kernel patching in AL2023—ensuring protected workloads with minimal manual effort and zero-downtime patching.”
One improvement for Amazon Linux would be stronger support for running it outside AWS. Although Amazon provides local VM images for VirtualBox and VMware, they are intended mainly for development and testing. Unlike Ubuntu, Debian, or Red Hat, Amazon Linux is not designed or fully supported as a production OS in on-prem or hybrid environments. Expanding official support outside AWS would offer more flexibility for teams that maintain mixed infrastructure. Another area for improvement is the community ecosystem. Compared to Ubuntu or Red Hat, Amazon Linux has a smaller community and fewer third-party resources or tutorials. A larger ecosystem would make troubleshooting and adoption easier. Finally, improving backward compatibility between Amazon Linux 2 and Amazon Linux 2023—especially around package management (DNF vs yum) and updated toolchains—would simplify upgrades for teams managing large fleets.
Naveenkumar Lakshman - PeerSpot reviewer
Presales Engineer at Crayon AS
Daily work has become smoother and organized as I manage calls, notes, and files efficiently
The best features that Windows 11 offers in my opinion are Notepad++ and the integration, as I could use Microsoft 365 on it and I could also run many applications. If I want to use Linux, then I could use Windows Subsystem for Linux as well. Most of the industry-wide applications are easily installable on Windows 11 and user-friendly as well. Windows 11 has definitely impacted my organization positively because you could see that all the day-to-day activities, most of our professionals would use a Windows system itself. In terms of productivity, Windows 11 has made a positive difference as we use a mail inbox with its links and Microsoft Teams, which is available. Windows 11 is natively installable and very friendly with the compatible operating system, and alongside, we have other applications that are available. Edge browser, which is the default browser for Windows 11, is also a good browser and a very decent option. Additionally, we have other features available for the day-to-day activities. You can see it gives you a basic calendar, calculator, and camera options, and you have the File Explorer. You get a pretty decent operating system for a layman to work on a day-to-day basis. While there are certain tasks that consume a certain amount of time, Windows 11 reduces the time. The usability and architecture, how it is built, makes a user get into a state where they don't need to spend excessive effort on the task to be done. You can get everything through a UI-based interface, and everything is sorted and very simple. Over the period of time, the operating system evolution by Microsoft is good for the individual workspace.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
13%
Educational Organization
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
University
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business21
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise20
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise27
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Amazon Linux?
I do not feel there are any major improvements needed for Amazon Linux at this time.
What is your primary use case for Amazon Linux?
Amazon Linux is primarily used for development and operating services. I operated a real estate transaction site and also ran a used car parts sales website on this platform.
What advice do you have for others considering Amazon Linux?
I give Amazon Linux an overall rating of 9 on a scale from 1 to 10. The reason for that score is that it is comparable to general Linux distributions, and in addition, it can be used in good integr...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Windows 11?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Windows 11 is not something I can share, as I am not the one responsible for that; it falls to other colleagues in my company.
What needs improvement with Windows 11?
Until now, I have not paid much attention to the areas for improvement in Windows 11, but in the settings bar, I can say that in the notification center, which shifts and changes sometimes. Notific...
What is your primary use case for Windows 11?
From Windows 7, my use cases for Windows 11 feel quite similar to the Mac users because the toolbar and the bay at the bottom of the toolbar look similar to the MacBook. With how it is displayed on...
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Amazon Linux vs. Windows 11 and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
908,800 professionals have used our research since 2012.