Windows containers leverage Windows Server Core or Nano Server as their base OS, while Linux containers use Linux kernel features like cgroups and namespaces. The fundamental difference means:

# Example showing platform-specific Dockerfile directives
# Windows container example:
FROM mcr.microsoft.com/windows/servercore:ltsc2019
RUN powershell.exe -Command Write-Host "Building Windows container"

# Linux container example:
FROM alpine:latest
RUN echo "Building Linux container"

Benchmarks show notable differences in resource utilization:

• Windows containers typically require 2-3x more disk space (base image ~5GB vs Alpine's 5MB)
• Memory overhead is higher for Windows (100MB+ per container vs ~10MB for minimal Linux containers)
• Startup times are generally slower for Windows containers (5-10 seconds vs sub-second for optimized Linux containers)

Container images are platform-specific. You cannot run Linux images on Windows containers or vice versa without emulation:

# This will fail if trying to run on Windows containers:
docker run --rm alpine:latest echo "Hello from Linux"

# This requires Windows containers to be enabled:
docker run --rm mcr.microsoft.com/windows/nanoserver:1809 cmd /c "echo Hello from Windows"

Key security differences include:

Factor	Windows Containers	Linux Containers
Isolation	Process isolation (less secure) or Hyper-V isolation	Namespaces/cgroups with optional SELinux/AppArmor
Attack Surface	Larger due to Windows subsystems	Smaller with minimal distros like Alpine
Update Frequency	Monthly Patch Tuesday cycles	Continuous updates for most distros

Use Windows containers when:

• Running legacy .NET Framework applications
• Need Active Directory integration
• Developing Windows-specific services

Use Linux containers when:

• Building microservices with Node.js/Python/Go
• Need lightweight deployments
• Using Kubernetes in production (better support)

You can toggle between container modes after installation:

# Switch to Windows containers:
& "C:\Program Files\Docker\Docker\DockerCli.exe" -SwitchDaemon

# Switch back to Linux containers:
& "C:\Program Files\Docker\Docker\DockerCli.exe" -SwitchDaemon

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Windows containers and Linux containers fundamentally differ in their architecture:

# Windows container architecture diagram
Host OS (Windows) → Windows Container Runtime → Windows Server Core/Nano Server

# Linux container architecture diagram
Host OS (Windows) → MobyLinuxVM → Linux Kernel → Container Runtime

Recent benchmarks show significant differences in startup time and resource usage:

# Test results from Docker Bench 2023
Windows Container (Nano Server):
- Cold start: 1.8s
- Memory overhead: ~150MB
- Image size: ~300MB

Linux Container (Alpine):
- Cold start: 0.3s 
- Memory overhead: ~5MB
- Image size: ~5MB

Windows containers can ONLY run Windows-based images. Attempting to run Linux images results in:

docker: image operating system "linux" cannot be used on this platform.

Key compatibility scenarios:

# Windows host running Windows container
FROM mcr.microsoft.com/windows/servercore:ltsc2022

# Windows host running Linux container 
FROM alpine:latest

Windows containers introduce unique security aspects:

# Windows container isolation modes
docker run --isolation=process   # Windows Server containers
docker run --isolation=hyperv    # Hyper-V isolation (more secure)

# Linux container default isolation
docker run --security-opt seccomp=default.json

When to choose each option:

# Windows containers excel for:
- .NET Framework applications
- Legacy Windows services
- MS SQL Server deployments

# Linux containers better for:
- Microservices architectures
- Cloud-native applications
- CI/CD pipelines

You can change modes post-installation using:

# PowerShell command to switch
& $Env:ProgramFiles\Docker\Docker\DockerCli.exe -SwitchDaemon

# Docker Desktop UI alternative
Right-click tray icon → "Switch to Windows/Linux containers"

The WSL2 backend significantly impacts Linux container performance:

# Recommended .wslconfig for Linux containers
[wsl2]
memory=6GB
processors=4
localhostForwarding=true

Windows containers use native Windows resource management through the Windows kernel.

Key networking implementation variations:

# Windows container networking modes
docker run --network=nat       # Default NAT mode
docker run --network=transparent # Direct host network access

# Linux container equivalent
docker run --network=bridge    # Default bridge mode