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Windows Server vs openSUSE Leap 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

openSUSE Leap
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
12th
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.8
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Windows Server
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
194
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category, the mindshare of openSUSE Leap is 6.3%, up from 5.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Windows Server is 9.6%, up from 8.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Operating Systems (OS) for Business
 

Featured Reviews

NK
Provides BTRFS file system, which allows you to take snapshots
I only use the tool for testing purposes on my team, but multiple people use it. We don't make a team effort to install the solution. When it comes to maintenance, we ask our company to buy SUSE Linux Enterprise. My team consists of 13 people. We are currently integrating the solution with Ansible to do some coding. Although not a full-fledged automation, we are integrating the solution with Ansible and executing a couple of playbooks connected to openSUSE Leap. I would recommend the solution to other users looking for an open-source solution. Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.
Jai Prakash Sharma - PeerSpot reviewer
Efficient Management Achieved with Internal Resources and Reliable Technical Support
Maintenance of Windows Server varies by organization, but for us, it's not very difficult as we have in-house resources managing these tasks. However, it can become a bit tricky when we want to see a collated view of our security posture. Regarding AI integrations with Windows Server, Copilot adoption is progressing, though I have only experienced it on endpoints and not on the server side. We operate significant workloads on AI, but we consume those primarily on Linux rather than Windows Server. I don't have much experience regarding integration capabilities in Windows Server for AI workloads, so I may not be the right person to provide insights on that. Overall, I am quite happy with my experience using Windows Server. I don't have many constraints or concerns, so I would rate it eight out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Stable - it just runs without the necessity to reboot."
"The most valuable feature by far has been the virtualization capabilities of the operating system."
"The solution is easy for me to use because the backend is derived from FreeBSD and this is something I have been using for over 20 years."
"The solution is very stable after it is configured. It is hard to have a panel slow, a problem, misconfiguration, or any kind of loss function."
"The solution's most valuable feature is the BTRFS file system, which allows you to take snapshots."
"openSUSE Leap has helped me with using containers in Podman."
"Windows Server is a stable and scalable solution."
"The most valuable features of this solution are its performance, security, and that it is easy to use."
"The most valuable features I have found to be the flexibility and wide range of support training available."
"The most valuable features are the ease of access and maintaining the solution."
"Windows Server is easy to use. It's user friendly for the admin guys."
"The most valuable features are the file transfer protocol (FTP) and the secure file transfer protocol (SFTP)."
"The product is reliable. It is powerful and we can make a lot of tools to work with it."
"The most useful is the interface and the ergonomic. Windows is very simple."
 

Cons

"Like most Linux-based operating systems, the biggest challenge Leap faces is the GUI."
"I would like openSUSE Leap to have better link integration with Windows."
"There is room for improvement in the console."
"Somehow the change from OS12.x via 13.x to Leap was a bit bumpy and some old issues seemed to reappear."
"It would be helpful if we could easily switch from openSUSE Leap for testing to SUSE Linux Enterprise for production."
"In the future, the Active Directory could improve."
"The compatibility and the ease of use are areas that I would like to see improved."
"The user interface could be simplified."
"I cannot tell if the security enhancements such as Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection have contributed to protecting sensitive data."
"One area that needs improvement is the protection against ransomware attacks. A mechanism similar to what Linux offers for preventing ransomware attacks would be beneficial."
"Windows Server can improve in patch management and security."
"The Active Directory synchronization on Azure. This is something which was not easy to do. Using Azure Active Directory, I was trying to sync and this was not straightforward. This process could be more simplified."
"I believe the solution needs to be more secure in the future."
"The solution could improve by being more user-friendly."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is open-source."
"This is an open-source operating system that can be used free of charge."
"openSUSE Leap is an open-source solution that is free of cost."
"The cost of this solution was reasonable and it was within our budget."
"We use only the license versions of Windows Server."
"If you're buying an instance in the cloud, then you'll pay for it monthly. Otherwise, a normal purchase is always upfront; there is no subscription model with Microsoft, at least for the Windows Server licenses."
"Its price is fine. Its licensing is on a yearly basis."
"There is a license required and it is on an annual basis."
"Our licensing fee is perpetual."
"The software costs are dependent on what CAL requirements you have."
"This is not an expensive product."
"The cost is relatively high."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
17%
Computer Software Company
15%
Educational Organization
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Government
9%
University
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with openSUSE Leap?
Both openSUSE Leap and the SUSE Enterprise version use the same kernel. Suppose I have a lower environment where I can run openSUSE to test all my products. It would be helpful if I could easily sw...
What is your primary use case for openSUSE Leap?
I use openSUSE Leap for testing purposes. Before officially using any server in our office, we test it using the solution. My office usually uses production servers on the SUSE Linux enterprise ver...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for openSUSE Leap?
openSUSE Leap is an open-source solution that is free of cost.
What needs improvement with Windows Server?
We haven't utilized Windows containers and Kubernetes for deploying any applications. I'm trying to learn it and have started to watch YouTube content for my understanding. I cannot tell if the sec...
What is your primary use case for Windows Server?
The main use cases for Windows Server involve file sharing, such as file server and network shares. We are not a big organization using Windows Server. We are in the transportation industry, and we...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Rakuten, Rackspace, Tyco
Find out what your peers are saying about Windows Server vs. openSUSE Leap and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
864,155 professionals have used our research since 2012.