On Windows, Linux, and OS X most kernel panics are caused by one of two things:
- Faulty drivers.
- Faulty hardware.
Linux often runs on server hardware, that helps, but also if you aren't doing desktop Linux you're exposed to fewer potentially faulty drivers. As soon as you enable 3D acceleration and sound Linux crashes about as much as Windows (due to third party closed source drivers).
You really have to compare like with like. I think Linux is very stable, but I also think Windows Server is very stable too (doubly so in Core Mode). However Windows or Linux running on a five year old laptop that has clogged up air ducts or failing fans and which gets too hot to touch isn't going to be a stable scenario for any OS.
If anything because Windows has been forced to run on such terrible hardware they've done a lot to mitigate it. They've moved sound completely out of kernel space and moved MOST of the graphics stack out too. Now both can crash without causing a BSOD, that's pretty neat.
I'm not sure I've ever seen one, and I've run exclusively *nix on my personal machines for about 8 years. Yet I've seen a lot on the Win10 laptop I just bought a few months ago (mostly due to a broken windows update -- updating again fixed it).
I've seen plenty of kernel panics at work last year due to faulty hardware, but I can't remember seeing any panics in the past 10 years that's software related.
- Faulty drivers.
- Faulty hardware.
Linux often runs on server hardware, that helps, but also if you aren't doing desktop Linux you're exposed to fewer potentially faulty drivers. As soon as you enable 3D acceleration and sound Linux crashes about as much as Windows (due to third party closed source drivers).
You really have to compare like with like. I think Linux is very stable, but I also think Windows Server is very stable too (doubly so in Core Mode). However Windows or Linux running on a five year old laptop that has clogged up air ducts or failing fans and which gets too hot to touch isn't going to be a stable scenario for any OS.
If anything because Windows has been forced to run on such terrible hardware they've done a lot to mitigate it. They've moved sound completely out of kernel space and moved MOST of the graphics stack out too. Now both can crash without causing a BSOD, that's pretty neat.