Simple user requirements for the OS

Intention of this article is to point-out some basic necessities of users, regarding operating system. Does the system meets requirements, fully, partially or not at all. I will focus on Desktop OS.
I will focus on Windows (XP, Vista) and Linux (in general - Ubuntu, openSUSE... - I will call it simply "Linux").
Let's start.

1. OS must provide easy access to documents, files, e-mail, internet, communication and other applications necessary for every-day use. Does OS meets requirements?

• Windows - YES
• Linux - YES

2. OS must keep integrity of OS files as well as user files and information. Files cannot be lost due to errors in running applications. Does OS meets requirements?

• Windows - NO. Additional software is required
• Linux - YES

Comment: Applications are known to crash on both OS. However, Windows frequently looses or corrupt files which was open by application that was using it. Windows even display a message sometimes, warning about possible file loss/corruption and ask for user action presenting rich or poor choices.
You'd need third party software like Antivirus, Anti spyware, firewall, crash watchers etc.
Linux just terminates the application. Usual loss is only a part that was modified and not saved or cached on disk. If a file was read-only, nothing happens. In Linux, no file can install or execute itself whithout specific permission, nor it has access to system files.

3. OS must not be slowed down by frequent insertion, modification and removal of files from/to file system. Does OS meets requirements?

• Windows - NO. Additional software and user action is required
• Linux - YES

Comment: This has to do with architecture of a File System and it's implementation. Windows writes files directly on a available free space in a sequence, fragmenting the files, which slows it's access time later on. Linux writes in a batch whenever possible, minimizing the fragmentation. There are some differences between file systems used, but all of them are minimizing fragmentation.

4. OS must not be slowed down after large number of installation and deinstallation of applications. Does OS meets requirements?

• Windows - NO
• Linux - YES

Comment: Windows uses Registry to store information about files and settings. Uninstallation is not centralized but handled by the application's own uninstaller which frequently fails to clean itself properly. That bloats the registry file, making it large and slow, full of orphan settings and values. Add fragmentation to it and you have complete mess.
Linux store it's settings in files. As it almost has no fragmentation, access is fast. There is also centralized installer, which keeps track of most of the things.

5. OS must not nag user with reboots after installation of applications (System upgrades/updates are excluded). Does system meets requirements?

• Windows - NO
• Linux - YES

Comment: Everyone who uses Windows knows that, in vast majority of cases, installation of applications requires reboot. This does not happen with Linux. It's install and use.

6. OS should be optimized and use maximum power and velocity of user's computer. Does OS meets requirements?

• Windows - NO
• Linux - NO

Comment: There is no OS in existance which is fully optimized for users machine out of the box. Usually, it is made to run good on different processors types so maximum number of users can enjoy it's features.
However, in Windows' case, you can't do anything about it. In Linux, you can compile the kernel (heart of OS) for your specific type of processor, boosting the performace to the highest level.