You can open files non-exclusively on windows. If your antivirus doesn't do it, it is not a problem with the operating system but with the application. Frankly

You can open files non-exclusively on windows. If your antivirus doesn't do it, it is not a problem with the operating system but with the application. Frankly, the windows behavior, while annoying in some situations because of badly behaved applications, is much more logical to me and avoids issues like what you described here. People are used to Unix. I know because I am too; the only non-linux or mac os machines I have at home are the windows laptops of my kids. But yet, on this regard, I think that the windows behavior, while annoying because of badly written apps, it the best approach.