Comparative study on educational effects between Linux and Windows

All this time, the software used in Chinese ICT curriculum in K-12 has been mainly Microsoft Windows and its application software. With the development of free software movement, however, Linux and its application software are getting more mature and are able to meet the demand of ICT curriculum. Regretfully, Chinese people are suspicious of it because of lack of acknowledge for Linux. Therefore, this study designed a teaching experiment in order to compare Windows with Linux from three levels of educational effects. The first level was the basic knowledge and skill, the second was the transfer ability in cross-system, and the final was the interest and attitude for learning about computer. The experimental study showed that there were no significant differences between Windows and Linux in educational effects.