Linux Uses Hardware To Its Fullest Advantage

Because Linux users tend to be very demanding people who want to get the most out of their equipment, Linux can be set up to wring the last drop of performance out of most hardware.

As an example, my video card has 2MB (2,097,152 bytes) of VRAM. Under Windows, if I want 16-bit color (65,535 colors, or two bytes per pixel), the highest resolution I can get is 1024x768. But if you do the math, you see that 1024x768x2=1,572,864. This means that 1/4 of the video card's memory is wasted!

Under Linux, I can run in a resolution of 1152x864. This is the best I can do given the mechanics of my video card and monitor, and only wastes 5% of the VRAM. I get over 25% more screen to work with, literally without spending a dime more. None of my applications have the slightest problem with the nonstandard screen size.

(Recently I upgraded my Windows video drivers, and now I can get 1152x864 in Windows. However, in 8-bit color, I have a mode set at 1416x1062, which is noticeably better than the standard 1280x1024 which is the max I can get in Windows, even with new drivers.)

Linux allows you to make optimum use of almost every component of your system. You can optimize your CPU, IDE or SCSI system, floppy drive, and so on. For users that are concerned about performance, Linux offers a real opportunity to push the envelope.