I have both - French doors that open into my sunroom, then sliders that open from my sunroom onto my deck on one side, the patio on the other side. I have double sliders that open from our walkout basement to the screened-in porch. I prefer the sliders to the french doors because they don't take up any clearance space and they seal tighter in the winter. I had all french doors in my former house and they were drafty. I used them in this house in places where they wouldn't be exposed to the outside (great room to sunroom, main hallway to office)and because they gave me the same effect as a Nana wall at about 1/3 the price.

First, sliders aren’t very secure, so almost any French door is going to be more secure. Years ago we replaced sliders w/ Anlin French doors in the DR. They use a multi-point locking system that is way more secure than the sliders. Ours are outswing, too, b/c if they were in-swing they’d be too close to chairs on that side w/ someone sitting on the chair. We got operating sidelights so we could have air flow w/ doors closed. I didn’t want a screen door for ease of entry/exit & looks w/ V-grooved glass. The sidelights are screened.

Like automobiles, there is a huge variety of doors and windows with varying prices. If you're in Florida, I'd check out PGT.

I personally think the Sunrise slider is nicer than that the Provia in this comparison. The Hinged patio or French equivalent of the Provia door would be more expensive as a standard when compared to their slider variant. Most folks have the idea that the French is a more premium door than a slider but the slider works better for most people because it does not encroach into the roof vs. and Inswing French and it has a screen as a standard whereas an Oustswing will not.