There are generally four laptops in the Ideas Box. They come pre-loaded by Bibliothèques Sans Frontières (Libraries Without Borders) with a variety of applications.
We deliver them with two operating systems, Windows and Linux/Ubuntu.
Linux is an operating system, just like Windows or MacOS X. It lets you work like you do with Windows, but it functions differently.
While we are in the habit of saying that Linux is an operating system, it is actually only the heart (or "core") of the operating system GNU/Linux. (The operating systems Microsoft Windows NT, 2000, and XP also have a "core", but it's different: NT).
The core does the dirty work, managing the memory, access to peripherals (hard disk, CD-Rom reader, keyboard, mouse, graphics card), network, and multitasking (dividing microprocessor time among programs), among other things. Unlike Windows, where you have no choice about the graphical interface, there are several different graphic interfaces under Linux. The main ones are Gnome, KDE, and XFCE. It is even possible to use Linux without a graphic interface, or even only use a graphic interface when you want to.
GNU/Linux is free to reuse, and various companies have adapted and recreated it in order to come up with an operating system to their own liking. These are called "distributions".
Among the most well-known distributions are Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian, and Suse.
The computers come with the following software and programs pre-installed: gimp, openshot, inkscape, krita, mypaint, tuxpaint, darktable, pinta, digikam, vlc, youtube-dl, cheese, winff, kdenlive, audacity, musescore, libreoffice, calibre, xpdf, pdfmod, scribus, marble, gnome-maps, stellarium, supertux, scrath, virtualbox.
Windows is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for PC laptops. It has had undeniable success, due in part to the fact that Microsoft has signed numerous exclusivity agreements with computer manufacturers. It is sold pre-installed on practically all personal computers.
The computers come with the following software and programs pre-installed: vlc, skype, firefox, chrome, 7zip, teamviewer, blender, freecad, gimp, libreoffice, scratch, tuxpaint, sumatrapdf, flashplayer, audacity, calibre, dotnetfx, freemind, inkscape, picasa, scribus, sketchup, xmind.