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Linux nowadays is *way* easier to get working from a fresh install than Windows on most server hardware. No special drivers to hunt for / install, ... It all just works from a single fresh install.


It's easier depending on what you are used to. Linux is still very intimidating for some people out there to run in production. Sure, the pretty Linux GUI on install might be nice and easy, and it could even be followed up by somewhat decent looking tools for keeping it all together once you have it installed, but the facade usually fades away quickly, and unless you know the command line world and /etc, it becomes unmanageable.

And on servers, there are quite a few special drivers to hunt for with both Windows and Linux. SAN hardware is a big one that introduces a ton of driver fun for either side. And as Bitt already said, out of the box, no Linux distro includes the hardware management drivers for servers, though nor does Windows. Having these can make the difference between the box kernel panicking/blue screening in the corner and no-one noticing, vs having the box panic, self reboot once, panic again, then sending an alert out to the sys admin via the integrated management card that something is wrong.

With the Proliants that I worked with, installation of either OS was pretty much the same. Boot off HP CD or go into RAID bios and set up storage. Boot off OS CD and install. Insert HP CD again, install driver package. So even for Linux servers, its important to choose a good vendor.