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Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) vs Windows 10 vs Windows Server 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
6.2
RHEL enhances efficiency, reduces costs, ensures stability, and boosts productivity through automation, manageability, and community support.
Sentiment score
2.0
Windows 10 offers improved efficiency and user-friendliness over Windows 7, with cost-effectiveness and compatibility appreciated despite reseller profitability limits.
Sentiment score
5.0
Windows Server enhances efficiency, reducing support costs by 10-70%, valued for virtualization, integration, security, and operational stability.
A long lifecycle is key to having a good return on investment.
Architect at KnowIT
Being able to transform common manual tasks that previously took all day into processes that take an hour, half an hour, or even less, demonstrates clear value.
Systems administrator at a retailer with 501-1,000 employees
Red Hat Enterprise Linux has saved us time and increased productivity.
Cloud engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
I have seen a return on investment with Windows 10 in that it basically saves our money.
Cloud Engineer at a outsourcing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
The tool supports many applications.
Agile Consultant at MSOLdigi
You get a standard platform that is very secure and stable.
Manager, Information & Cloud Systems at a consultancy with 1,001-5,000 employees
The return on investment is evident as having efficient resources to manage our infrastructure means we are less dependent on costly external support from Microsoft.
Executive Vice President Technology at InfoEdge India Ltd
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.1
RHEL's support is efficient and knowledgeable, often surpassing competitors, though response times may vary by support agent.
Sentiment score
5.2
Microsoft's Windows 10 support is helpful and responsive, though mixed, with users appreciating online resources but desiring faster premium responses.
Sentiment score
6.3
Windows Server support is praised for expertise and responsiveness but experiences vary, with some users finding delays and inconsistencies.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) support is great, as they go beyond their duty to help resolve issues and provide solutions even for third-party software such as XRDP.
Senior Infrastructure Systems Administrator at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees
When we do contact customer service, they are generally very knowledgeable and well-versed in our size.
Solutions Architect at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
Usually, I send the information, and they have something for me within hours, sometimes even minutes.
Team manager at Evertec
We have informed Microsoft, but the issue is still there, and it has been more than three to four months.
Technology\Cloud Architect | IT Infrastructure Security & Compliance at IDFC Bank
I would rate customer support a ten.
Cloud Engineer at a outsourcing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
The customer service and support from Microsoft are quite responsive and generally good.
Senior Manager at Morgan Stanley
They resolved our problems within the defined SLA.
Relationship Manager at Cognizant
When I had an issue with Hyper-V, the support was excellent.
Systems technician. IT Office at LNU
The technical support from Microsoft is one of the best, though there can be challenges when it comes to priority zero or critical issues, where the queue can be longer.
Executive Vice President Technology at InfoEdge India Ltd
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.2
RHEL excels in scalability, adapting efficiently to diverse needs across platforms while users praise its reliable performance management.
Sentiment score
5.6
Windows 10 is scalable, adaptable, and preferred for organizations of all sizes, supporting large user bases efficiently.
Sentiment score
7.4
Windows Server efficiently scales from small to large user bases, supporting resource adjustments for smooth organizational growth.
Many of our applications scale really well, with some having several hundreds of VMs, which we couldn't accomplish on Windows.
Solutions Architect at a transportation company with 10,001+ employees
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) scales very well with the growing needs of our company.
Director, DevOps at Lightedge Solutions
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) handles increases in users, applications, or data smoothly, which is why we use it for all our projects, as it provides us with confidence.
Cloud Administrator at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
We can focus fully on our work without pressure or concerns about issues on our own PCs.
Software Engineer at a tech vendor with 201-500 employees
For scalability, I would rate it a nine or ten because performance-wise, Windows 10 has never given me those issues.
Senior Engagement Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
I can increase the licensing amount easily when there is company growth or when new people join.
Assistant Vice President at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees
I've worked in companies with 20,000 to 100,000 users, and it scales beautifully without issues.
Manager, Information & Cloud Systems at a consultancy with 1,001-5,000 employees
We use it everywhere, and it serves approximately two thousand users in our company as a backend service.
System Engineer at Alnajat charity
Windows Server is highly scalable; I can upgrade the hardware capacity or storage capacity smoothly.
Senior Consutant at HCLSoftware
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is praised for stability, minimal downtime, strong support, efficient patches, and swift bug resolutions.
Sentiment score
6.7
Windows 10 is stable and reliable, with minimal crashes, but occasional sluggishness occurs with extended use and many applications.
Sentiment score
7.4
Windows Server is praised for its stability, with recent versions highly reliable despite occasional update challenges.
It works consistently with minimal downtime and very few bugs or glitches.
Senior DevOps Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
It just works, and that's really the key factor; I can't remember the last time we had a system go down and had to restore it due to a bad patch.
Senior software engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
We've not had a service outage with Red Hat in six years.
Team Lead, Linux Systems & Tools at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
The challenges were related to third-party agents and their supportability.
Technology\Cloud Architect | IT Infrastructure Security & Compliance at IDFC Bank
Windows 10 is stable for my daily development work, providing frequent security updates and user-friendly updates, which are excellent.
Software Engineer at a tech vendor with 201-500 employees
I would rate the stability of the product an eight.
Senior Engagement Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.
Manager at Accenture company
The stability is better with the newer versions like 2019.
System Engineer at Alnajat charity
Very rarely do I see any blue screens or crashes.
Senior Consutant at HCLSoftware
 

Room For Improvement

Enhancing RHEL user experience involves improving documentation, setup, security, training, automation, updates, integration, support, and interface.
Windows 10 users seek improvements in security, stability, pricing, interface, AI integration, compatibility, and less disruptive updates.
Windows Server users cite security, performance, integration issues, setup complexity, high cost, and frequent maintenance as key concerns.
Addressing these limitations would significantly enhance the operating system's flexibility and efficiency.
Senior DevOps Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
The built-in security features of Red Hat Enterprise Linux were insufficient for our needs, necessitating the implementation of supplementary security measures.
IT Infrastructure Engineer at a manufacturing company with 11-50 employees
By providing pre-installed, native automation tools within the operating system, Red Hat would streamline processes and improve user efficiency.
Systems Engineer at a tech vendor with 501-1,000 employees
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.
Senior Engagement Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Investment in Windows 10 may not be ideal as the world is changing with advancing technology in the AI age.
DevOps Engineer at CipherTV Corp.
The transitions within Teams are not smooth, and call quality in meetings is not great.
Senior Manager at Morgan Stanley
The vendor must update everything with the same user interface and make it more modern.
Agile Consultant at MSOLdigi
If Windows could make the OS part lighter, especially starting and restarting the Windows Server, which needs to be quick, then it would be great since this is an area where the tool lacks a bit.
Manager at Accenture company
The support team is getting worse in terms of expertise.
Manager, IT Security at Averis Sdn Bhd
 

Setup Cost

Red Hat Enterprise Linux's pricing is cost-effective for enterprises needing support, despite free alternatives, with simplified and appealing licensing.
Enterprise users have mixed pricing experiences, with varied licensing models and bundled offers impacting perceived value and cost.
Windows Server licensing is complex and costly, but it's popular for its features despite pricing concerns compared to alternatives.
It may be considered expensive compared to other solutions like CentOS or Ubuntu, which offer some of the same features without additional costs.
Cloud Infrastructure Architect at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
Its pricing has room for improvement because it's more expensive in the local market due to purchasing power parity in India.
Cloud engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
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.
Senior DevOps Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
For those buying a Windows license, it might be better to buy a Windows 11 license.
DevOps Engineer at CipherTV Corp.
Windows is considered overpriced, especially given the normal software functionalities.
Design engineer at a construction company with 201-500 employees
Windows 10 is cost-effective when compared to other competitors available such as Mac and Linux.
BI developer at Jubilee Life Insurance Company Ltd
On a scale of one to ten, with ten being the most expensive, I rate it ten out of ten.
Manager, IT Security at Averis Sdn Bhd
Microsoft offers product pricing with licenses per processor and CAL licenses for accessing.
Manager, Information & Cloud Systems at a consultancy with 1,001-5,000 employees
The cost associated with Windows Server—considering pricing, licensing, and setup—is expensive, no doubt.
Executive Vice President Technology at InfoEdge India Ltd
 

Valuable Features

Red Hat Enterprise Linux offers robust security, flexibility, and comprehensive management, enhancing reliability, scalability, and operational efficiency for organizations.
Windows 10 is praised for its user-friendly interface, productivity tools, security features, and wide application compatibility.
Windows Server excels with Active Directory, Hyper-V, integration, security, and usability, making it ideal for enterprise solutions.
It also has strong security features, is OIS and FIPS certified, and has built-in Linux security configurations.
Cloud Infrastructure Architect at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
There is also no downtime.
Linux/DevOps Engineer at Ekwantu Consulting
The operating system allows for the simple addition of kernels, modules, and other applications, making it highly adaptable to various needs.
Technical Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
When using mapping software such as QGIS or ArcGIS, the system remains stable, especially when handling heavy files.
Co-Founder at a consultancy with 51-200 employees
Device encryption is a main priority for us as developers in a FinTech company because we have the most secure user data.
Software Engineer at a tech vendor with 201-500 employees
The configuration management tools, such as SACM, are effective.
Technology\Cloud Architect | IT Infrastructure Security & Compliance at IDFC Bank
I can manage the firewalls on the server easily, open or close ports to manage security traffic, and use encryption on the hard disk to keep data secure.
Systems technician. IT Office at LNU
It's very common, so finding applications and support is easy.
Agile Consultant at MSOLdigi
FTP functionality does not require additional payment because Windows Server already includes the feature, reducing the costs of these tools.
Team Lead at Regnology
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category, the mindshare of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is 7.4%, down from 10.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Windows 10 is 3.0%, down from 3.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Windows Server is 8.7%, down from 9.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Operating Systems (OS) for Business Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)7.4%
Windows Server8.7%
Windows 103.0%
Other80.9%
Operating Systems (OS) for Business
 

Featured Reviews

RO
Server administrator at Northrop Grumman
Empowers collaboration through streamlined integration and extensive documentation
Improving Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) can be tough, however, a significant area is collaboration tools. We have many Windows users that use Outlook and Skype or Teams to collaborate on our network. They want Linux desktops due to the fact that they want to use containers. Their biggest complaint is, 'I need two workstations to do my container work and one to collaborate.' If somehow RHEL can start introducing or collaborating with Teams and Outlook so their users can work with their Windows peers, that would be great. But I don't think that's available yet. Regarding pricing, setup costs, and licensing, there needs to be more of an education piece to it. For instance, when purchasing 10 or 100 node licenses, they could suggest, 'We also offer this 1,000 node license instead, and it'll save you specific amounts.' Just more education on their offerings would be helpful, because usually, we're coming out with the requirements, and then they just provide it to us. They could inform us about saving by bundling it differently or using alternative approaches.
R Pranavan - PeerSpot reviewer
Software Engineer at a tech vendor with 201-500 employees
Collaborative development has become more secure and efficient for our team
We have faced some issues with Windows OneDrive because if one developer has a folder in a common OneDrive folder, it took some time to show it to others. It becomes somewhat difficult to work, as there is latency on that, so if you update that, it will be more efficient and useful for the developers. My main focus on Windows 10 is the giving of regular updates, so it might take some time to update Windows, which is also mandatory. As a developer, when we are working with Windows 10, if it takes more time to update and restart the PC, it affects our efficiency at work. If we could stop the updates on a regular basis or if they were delivered faster, it would be easier. As a developer, the frequent updates are too annoying for working on it, so it would be better if we stop the frequent updates and only provide the most important ones. Performance issues over time due to background apps and programs piling up and using an SSD instead of a hard disk are also concerns.
GS
Manager, Information & Cloud Systems at a consultancy with 1,001-5,000 employees
Long-standing experience improves reliability and security, making it a trusted platform
It's difficult to see improvements when using it daily. They improved compatibility with other platforms, such as Linux. One improvement I was thinking about some years ago was the ability to manage an on-premises server from Azure. Now, they have created Azure Arc, and we are using it as a very good way of managing on-premises servers. What can be improved is on the Azure side. With Active Directory on the server side and Entra ID on the Azure side in our hybrid environment, we find issues with data syncing to Entra ID. In Entra ID, Microsoft omitted some parameters. In Active Directory, you can put an expiring date to an account, but you cannot do that in Entra ID. We have other means of doing that, but it's common to have consultants working for six months, requiring account expiration or renewal processes. The Entra ID Connect syncing tool could be improved. Though they moved the service to Azure and use an agent instead of having a dedicated server, it remains cumbersome to set up due to the differences between Entra ID and Active Directory.
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Comparison Review

it_user281973 - PeerSpot reviewer
Storage and VMware Expert at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
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
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Government
7%
Marketing Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Construction Company
8%
Performing Arts
7%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Computer Software Company
8%
University
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business90
Midsize Enterprise49
Large Enterprise268
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business126
Midsize Enterprise64
Large Enterprise121
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business78
Midsize Enterprise41
Large Enterprise89
 

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 st...
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)?
Regarding the pricing of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) subscription, I believe the pricing is fair. The support tha...
What needs improvement with Windows 10?
We have faced some issues with Windows OneDrive because if one developer has a folder in a common OneDrive folder, it...
What is your primary use case for Windows 10?
As a developer, we can work collaboratively, and Windows 10 is also good from a UI perspective. I chose to rate it an...
What needs improvement with Windows Server?
I cannot answer regarding which metrics I use to measure the effectiveness of Microsoft Defender for IoT because I ha...
What is your primary use case for Windows Server?
What suits me the most is that for all my OT environment, I can manage all those devices in one secure portal from Mi...
 

Also Known As

Red Hat Enterprise Linux, RHEL, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for AWS
No data available
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
Rakuten, Rackspace, Tyco
Find out what your peers are saying about Red Hat, Rocky Linux, Canonical and others in Operating Systems (OS) for Business. Updated: March 2026.
885,667 professionals have used our research since 2012.