The big one that hasn't been mentioned yet is package management. It's a killer feature, especially if your job requires any form of tweaking. Working on windows, you have to search the internet for tool X, then figure out if you can afford it, or if it's free if there's an official page linking to a trustworthy download service, then once you install it, almost every one of these has it's own 'phone-home' mechanism to see if there's updates for it to who knows what websites.
In a package-managed system, you don't have to open a browser to starting hunting on the internet. You can search your own repository. Install it in literally seconds - particularly if you already know the name. There's only one program doing the 'phone home' - your package manager, and that only does it to sites that you can confirm with your own two eyes.
I run a windows desktop at home, but only for the games. Working with windows for work would be like tying one hand behind my back - windows makes it harder to 'get at' the system. But it really depends on what your specific tools are, there are analogues for most in the linux world if you ask around.
And licensing, oh my god, licensing. The nail in the Windows coffin for me was licensing (the joy of package management came later). "Hi Windows Support, I have this remote server that's going to expire its CALs in two days. I have applied the license code in a couple of different ways and it refuses to 'take' and demands a phone call to you guys. I can't get at this server physically. Okay, thank you for the code, I've applied it. Now, can you tell me where I can see that it has been successfully applied? Because the license box just disappeared when I clicked 'ok', there was no confirmation. This is a box in a country hospital, people's health actually depend on it - so please, I need it to remain remotely accessible - where can I actually see on the system it saying 'it is now licensed'?" ==> "Oh don't worry sir, that information is stored on our systems". It's not the Microsoft Police that I'm worried about here ==> "Oh don't worry, sir, that information is stored on our systems"
Licensing shennanigans drove me from being fearful of that crazy weird linux thing that doesn't make sense, and since then I've come to love it for all its advantages over windows. Linux has its warts, but every time I run into a problem like a dependency issue, which really isn't often these days, I remember the method of hunting Windows software on the internet, and it's much easier to deal with.
EDIT: also with package management, it's trivial to set up a new system with all the bits and bobs you want (awesome for testing stuff). You can do this with windows, but it's an ordeal getting it set up automatically - the usual process of installing in windows is manually going through each thing you want installed and every one of it's click-through windows.
In a package-managed system, you don't have to open a browser to starting hunting on the internet. You can search your own repository. Install it in literally seconds - particularly if you already know the name. There's only one program doing the 'phone home' - your package manager, and that only does it to sites that you can confirm with your own two eyes.
I run a windows desktop at home, but only for the games. Working with windows for work would be like tying one hand behind my back - windows makes it harder to 'get at' the system. But it really depends on what your specific tools are, there are analogues for most in the linux world if you ask around.
And licensing, oh my god, licensing. The nail in the Windows coffin for me was licensing (the joy of package management came later). "Hi Windows Support, I have this remote server that's going to expire its CALs in two days. I have applied the license code in a couple of different ways and it refuses to 'take' and demands a phone call to you guys. I can't get at this server physically. Okay, thank you for the code, I've applied it. Now, can you tell me where I can see that it has been successfully applied? Because the license box just disappeared when I clicked 'ok', there was no confirmation. This is a box in a country hospital, people's health actually depend on it - so please, I need it to remain remotely accessible - where can I actually see on the system it saying 'it is now licensed'?" ==> "Oh don't worry sir, that information is stored on our systems". It's not the Microsoft Police that I'm worried about here ==> "Oh don't worry, sir, that information is stored on our systems"
Licensing shennanigans drove me from being fearful of that crazy weird linux thing that doesn't make sense, and since then I've come to love it for all its advantages over windows. Linux has its warts, but every time I run into a problem like a dependency issue, which really isn't often these days, I remember the method of hunting Windows software on the internet, and it's much easier to deal with.
EDIT: also with package management, it's trivial to set up a new system with all the bits and bobs you want (awesome for testing stuff). You can do this with windows, but it's an ordeal getting it set up automatically - the usual process of installing in windows is manually going through each thing you want installed and every one of it's click-through windows.