Taking a cue from the Macintosh design concept, Windows developers integrated the GUI with the core operating system. One simply does not exist without the other. The benefit with this tight coupling of the OS and user interface is consistency in the appearance of the system.
On the other hand, Linux(like UNIX in general) has kept the two elements-user interface and OS- separate. The X Windows system interface is run as a user-level application, which makes it more stable. If the GUI fails Linux core does not go down with it. The process simply crashes and you get a terminal window. The X Window System also differs from the Windows GUI in that it isn't a complete user interface. It only defines how basic objects should be drawn and manipulated on the screen. The most significant ability of X Windows System is that they can operate through network on other workstation's screens.
source : Linux Administration, A beginners guide, 5th edition (2009)
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