What Is Your Favourite Operating System & Why ?

[Reaper_666]

Hiya everyone, What is your favourite OS & why ?, just thought this would be a interesting question and topic .

My favourite OS is deffinetly Windows 7 because it has an easier and better navigation system than any other OS in my opinion and it loads quicker than any other OS i've had plus it's one the easiest OSs i've ever installed quick & simple....i did have more to put but i kinda forgot lol...but basically i love everything about Windows 7

 

[Solidus]

I like the Mac OS personally more as most effects & installations are more streamlined than in the Windows setup & architecture (I have currently, and have owned both - I have both a 13" MacBook, a 17" HP Vista/7 laptop, and an old XP laptop).

The bells & whistles of Mac OSs seem to be really refined & a lot of the system guts gets hidden in the process of operating, which makes my Mac really easy if I need to just hop on & go do something fast.

However, if I want to customize everything and need the system settings more apparent if I need a custom operation to be completed, I'll use my Windows machine. Macs are generally easier to operate but Windows machines are better for tailoring the hardware to do more advanced tasks (not to say the same tasks couldn't be done on Macs, but it's a lot more difficult and you have to know more or less what you're doing).

IMO Windows jams up on menial tasks a lot easier so I tend to save it for the aforementioned specialized stuff. They're both equally good OSs in my experience though, just depends if you're the techie or the one who wants to do the task & get it done and not worry about the custom features.

 

[davelectronic]

RE OS pc tech

My choice is XP home or pro, ive tried windows 7 its ok all bells and whistles, its relatively new, there will be bugs and things, then the fixes, XP is well established and a proven track record, Microsoft will support updates until 2014 for it, and longer if there are still many users.

I don't like vista, it a marmite thing for me, and i hate it.
There will come a time that i will have to make the change and embrace windows 7 but after others have pulled all there hair out fixing small issues, saying that i heard there might be another new windows OS on the table, not sure who told me now, think someone said windows 9, true or not, don't know, so XP for now. Dave.

 

[Solidus]

My choice is XP home or pro, ive tried windows 7 its ok all bells and whistles, its relatively new, there will be bugs and things, then the fixes, XP is well established and a proven track record, Microsoft will support updates until 2014 for it, and longer if there are still many users.

I don't like vista, it a marmite thing for me, and i hate it.
There will come a time that i will have to make the change and embrace windows 7 but after others have pulled all there hair out fixing small issues, saying that i heard there might be another new windows OS on the table, not sure who told me now, think someone said windows 9, true or not, don't know, so XP for now. Dave.

XP! Now that is a great operating system. Most stable release I've seen from Microsoft yet. I like XP probably the most of all my Windows machines too. It's before Micro$$$oft got all flashy.

 

[Reaper_666]

damn good choice dave XP is a fantastic operating system and that was my favourite up intill i got my new laptop with Windows 7 but XP is my second favourite and like you i hate vista i absolutely despise it.

I can't really comment on the Mac OS because i've not got any experience using it so i can't really say anything.

 

[Solidus]

Mac's a decent OS, again it's fairly simplified so if you do technical things with your computer I'd suggest sticking with Windows.

Heh, going to an Apple store and sitting on one of the demo models for 10 minutes will greatly familiarize you with some of the key ideas behind it.

And yes, XP is a great OS. It's stable beyond belief, not sure if this has changed but last time I checked it's up to SP3? which just corrects minor system imperfections - not like the newer OS versions (x86 especially) that have major overhauls for SPs.

7 is a decent OS, I'll give it that. My main reservation with it is that they worked to make it a looker (which I don't necessarily have a problem with) but in the process upped the hardware draw at rest (I've heard graphics & video cards tend to suffer a bit if you're not running high spec stuff), and there are some not quite critical but significant weak areas in the OS fabric. But all that considered its still a worthy contender of a setup.

Edit: (not quite done heh) - goes to show the NT framework & file system continues to get better and better.

 

[Reaper_666]

Mac's a decent OS, again it's fairly simplified so if you do technical things with your computer I'd suggest sticking with Windows.

Heh, going to an Apple store and sitting on one of the demo models for 10 minutes will greatly familiarize you with some of the key ideas behind it.

And yes, XP is a great OS. It's stable beyond belief, not sure if this has changed but last time I checked it's up to SP3? which just corrects minor system imperfections - not like the newer OS versions (x86 especially) that have major overhauls for SPs.

7 is a decent OS, I'll give it that. My main reservation with it is that they worked to make it a looker (which I don't necessarily have a problem with) but in the process upped the hardware draw at rest (I've heard graphics & video cards tend to suffer a bit if you're not running high spec stuff), and there are some not quite critical but significant weak areas in the OS fabric. But all that considered its still a worthy contender of a setup.

Edit: (not quite done heh) - goes to show the NT framework & file system continues to get better and better.

i would go to apple store but i have no clue where any are over here lol, and yea your right about XP it's up to SP3 which i'm a little surprised they haven't brought any other SPs out for XP because alot of people still use it alot which i'm sure you already know.

Yep 7 certainly is a looker, well on some computer graphics & video cards will sufferr especially the ones who update there OS to Windows 7 like my brothers laptop he oringinally had Vista or XP can't remember which one he had now he updated his HP G70 laptop to Windows 7 and now his laptop is screwed up i mean i've had clean the thing out for him twice but also alot the time 7 doesn't make graphics & video cards suffer it's only in some cases that they do, lol yep it certainly does show the NT Framework & file system has and seems to just get better and better.

 

[(*steve*)]

I'd go for Debian Linux. If I have a choice, that's my option. Runs perfectly headless for years at a time without rebooting. Solid, secure, well documented, and has a decent licence (I don't have to fear moving it from one PC to another).

If I have to go with a Microsoft one, Win 7. Eats CPU and RAM, poorly documented, and requires regular reboots. Also can't get along with KVMs any more. On the plus side, trivial to set up with multiple screens (say, 5, for example). Nice eye candy and has support into more than the near future.

 

[Reaper_666]

I'd go for Debian Linux. If I have a choice, that's my option. Runs perfectly headless for years at a time without rebooting. Solid, secure, well documented, and has a decent licence (I don't have to fear moving it from one PC to another).

If I have to go with a Microsoft one, Win 7. Eats CPU and RAM, poorly documented, and requires regular reboots. Also can't get along with KVMs any more. On the plus side, trivial to set up with multiple screens (say, 5, for example). Nice eye candy and has support into more than the near future.

Nice choice steve it is a good OS, ok i know that Win 7 can do that but weirdly enough it dont seem to do that with me...it must like me lol

 

[Solidus]

i would go to apple store but i have no clue where any are over here lol, and yea your right about XP it's up to SP3 which i'm a little surprised they haven't brought any other SPs out for XP because alot of people still use it alot which i'm sure you already know.

Yep 7 certainly is a looker, well on some computer graphics & video cards will sufferr especially the ones who update there OS to Windows 7 like my brothers laptop he oringinally had Vista or XP can't remember which one he had now he updated his HP G70 laptop to Windows 7 and now his laptop is screwed up i mean i've had clean the thing out for him twice but also alot the time 7 doesn't make graphics & video cards suffer it's only in some cases that they do, lol yep it certainly does show the NT Framework & file system has and seems to just get better and better.

Yep - I haven't necessarily heard this but I suspect for ill-fitted OEM models & upgrades it'll cause some nasty CPU burns too. Just your animations and the newer bells & whistles require more demand on the system than XP and those - which under work load just stresses everything the wrong way. But yes, you're definitely right - if you know what you're doing, you do your fair amount of homework & be careful where need be then upgrading or buying a Win 7 machine won't cause any issues or headaches whatsoever.

One of the things I remembered I used to chain-boot on my Vista notebook was Ubuntu Linux. Great OS. Absolutely wonderfully working. If you haven't tried it, you should go take a look - you can go burn a DVD live disk, change your BIOS to ODD boot primary & you can try it out without having to install, modify or partition anything. The only reasons I've never used it personally (and done a permanent install) is because of two (probably irrational) fears:

1) Lack of applications on the Linux platform. Mainly what I use are Adobe Photoshop & Ableton Live (for music production), & neither of those have a Linux port. It's true that there is open-source GNU stuff (such as GIMP) that has a bigger support & mod base than the premium stuff. It's just once you invest the dollar value and the time into that software & resource material (like books, how tos, etc.) at least I get fairly fearful of having to change programs & relearn all the methodology behind everything.

2) HP giving me a hard time - if I installed over Windows, if I needed support it would be a nightmare & a half. This is probably irrational because my laptop is out of warranty and has a dead pixel line about 1/8" thick going across the middle of the screen - so any thing going wrong requiring service or warranty support would probably result in me just scrapping the thing anyway.

So, that's just my $0.02 for now.

 

[davenn]

Win 7 is a hunk of crap its very awkward to do anything with
its ok if you just want to boot up and run your fav programs. But if you want to actually play around with the OS and see what it is doing and try to make make it do other things its pretty much a nightmare. I dont get the regular crashes that steve comments on but its a pain in the butt with its incompatability with so much software

At least with Win XP a tech can have a good play with the settings and mold its operations to his her liking

for total stability and userability, the Linux system in its various formats, it cant be beaten, hence why its still the preferred server OS

cheers
Dave

 

[Reaper_666]

Win 7 is a hunk of crap its very awkward to do anything with
its ok if you just want to boot up and run your fav programs. But if you want to actually play around with the OS and see what it is doing and try to make make it do other things its pretty much a nightmare. I dont get the regular crashes that steve comments on but its a pain in the butt with its incompatability with so much software

At least with Win XP a tech can have a good play with the settings and mold its operations to his her liking

for total stability and userability, the Linux system in its various formats, it cant be beaten, hence why its still the preferred server OS

cheers
Dave

I found Win 7 to be very easy to do stuff with and i've played around with the OS so many times i find it very easy and i've easily made it do other things and i dont get crashes either but i have molded Win 7s operations to my own likings quite easily but thats me dont know i just find easy.

i've not had that much experience with Linux tbh.

 

[Reaper_666]

Yep - I haven't necessarily heard this but I suspect for ill-fitted OEM models & upgrades it'll cause some nasty CPU burns too. Just your animations and the newer bells & whistles require more demand on the system than XP and those - which under work load just stresses everything the wrong way. But yes, you're definitely right - if you know what you're doing, you do your fair amount of homework & be careful where need be then upgrading or buying a Win 7 machine won't cause any issues or headaches whatsoever.

One of the things I remembered I used to chain-boot on my Vista notebook was Ubuntu Linux. Great OS. Absolutely wonderfully working. If you haven't tried it, you should go take a look - you can go burn a DVD live disk, change your BIOS to ODD boot primary & you can try it out without having to install, modify or partition anything. The only reasons I've never used it personally (and done a permanent install) is because of two (probably irrational) fears:

1) Lack of applications on the Linux platform. Mainly what I use are Adobe Photoshop & Ableton Live (for music production), & neither of those have a Linux port. It's true that there is open-source GNU stuff (such as GIMP) that has a bigger support & mod base than the premium stuff. It's just once you invest the dollar value and the time into that software & resource material (like books, how tos, etc.) at least I get fairly fearful of having to change programs & relearn all the methodology behind everything.

2) HP giving me a hard time - if I installed over Windows, if I needed support it would be a nightmare & a half. This is probably irrational because my laptop is out of warranty and has a dead pixel line about 1/8" thick going across the middle of the screen - so any thing going wrong requiring service or warranty support would probably result in me just scrapping the thing anyway.

So, that's just my $0.02 for now.

i don't think there that irrational tbh, well my bro wanted to upgrade to Win 7 so badly that he didn't even bother to research weather the components in his laptop was good enough for the OS and he didn't check to see if his battery could handle it, i told him to research it before he upgraded but he didn't listen and one of the things that are screwed up is his battery he can't go on his laptop with the charger plugged in because his battery will just go right down.

 

[davelectronic]

RE favorite OS

I would like to try a mac OS as i never have, and Linux OS, i know there both ok, well better than ok, i might get round to it eventually, when i Google around, as you do, well i do, some are still running windows 98 and ME 2000, not sure on updates for them any more.

What i think is wicked is there is a glut of second user machines out there, with a tweak here and there you can instal a more up to date OS even windows 7 on a lot of them, but shopping second user machines you need your wits about you, so you get an honest good bargain, that old saying one mans trash is another mans treasure, all these people that go out and buy the latest must have's, give it a few months or so and prices drop as new must have's hit the market place, they bring out a new smart phone every other week.

There are loads of people that don't want last weeks, look out for the bargains. Dave.

 

[(*steve*)]

One of the real pains with Win 7 is that is *should* be soooo easy to move what are essentially the user's home directories and the program data off the boot drive.

I have a machine with a flash drive as the boot drive, and clearly I don't want swap on there (easy to move) or the user's data. This is where it gets interesting. There are a variety of ways to move this, but microsoft warns that to do so will prevent updates and service packs from being applied!

With Linux, it's just so much easier. I put the root somewhere, /home somewhere else, swap somewhere else, /var somewhere else, etc., etc. And the system can still update itself.

Sure there are ways to do it on Win 7 (you could do it on XP fairly easily) but you have to resort to a heap of "magic stuff" that you have to repeat for each user...

Blech!

 

[donkey]

i have win 7 on my computer. why? cos unfortunately it came with the system.
there are things i like to do like transfer a file from my computer to the 4 other computers in this house(2kids 1 missus and 1 hooked up to the tv to watch repeats from only the official sites of course) i set up win 7 to allow access and still have issues most days. it is annoying. win xp was simpler none of that UAC crap, no notifications about me turning of the firewall or any other feature that just sits there blocking my programs from running. win xp IS awesome.
having said that it really depends on what you need an os to do. if you like gaming than windows seems to be good (most games are made for it anyway), music and media I find alot of people prefer macs, and for networks i see people adoring linux and its variants. all in all i think each os has a place (cept vista... YUCK) but as i am a gamer and wanna play games today not have to adjust settings, wait for it to be ported, or deal with the other problems I stick with win 7. also win 7 seems to have an awesome compatability mode too.

 

[electro_pa]

HP laptop LCD fault note.

Hi Solidus,
Of course I don't know the HP model, but take the challenge and change the dud screen yourself!
Lots of others have done it.
Probably can find a video of your model fix on YouTube. Some offerings are quite excellent. Some are plain dumb!
Lots of spare screens on eBay too.
I have just finished replacing the LCD in my Apple MacBook Air 13", after the dear grand-daughter shut the cover, on a USB drive!
Apple on willing to replace the whole top section from the hinge up --- $750 !!!
Job cost me $150 & some four hours.
MacBook Air hasn't got protective cover over the LCD, which reduces the weight.
There is video of the job on YouTube.
Have a go, be careful and good luck.
Clive.

 

[MattyMatt]

I use 3 different systems depending on my needs...

Windows 7 64-bit, booting on the same system with swapable hard drives (note, NOT dual boot), with a common drive, Ubuntu or any debian based distro.
Currently ubuntu is what I am typing this on.

And I have both a Mac and a PC laptop, the PC lappy boots the same OS's as the desktop (for compatibility) and I also use 2 separate drives.

There are several reasons I run what I do, most of the time I am in linux on the PC, but there are certain programs that do not work well through wine, hence why I have windows... that and games .

I have the Mac for a few reasons, but other than being at least as stable as my linux box, I do find some interesting utilities that are already nicely put together for the Mac. Some audio programs seem to work better, the overall noise of the system (not sound, but electrical noise) seems to also be a bit better.

 

[jackorocko]

I have used in the past:

XP - ok, but microsoft has dropped support for xp with MSE.
Vista - blows
Win 7 - is an amazing OS considering where MS was with XP. 7 runs more like a *nix os then any previous version and that is a good thing.
Arch Linux - Still my prefered *nix environment, because you get to compile packages and is released under a rolling release model that is far superior to stable releases twice a year. It is cutting edge baby!!!
BSD - Not for the avg user, but I found it to be excellent as a server OS.

Mac OS - want to try it, but will never pay that price for an OS that will only ever surf the web and maybe a few other tidbits. My NI electronic simulation software is not mac OS compatible.

 

[Externet]

I use Linux since 2006. Ubuntu 10.10 now
Sick of Windows, suffered about a year to get used to this geek-oriented operative system; and now I will not use other.
It works all the time with no hickups and does everything I need and much more than that with no viruses, at $0, and renewable/updated twice a year if you want to.

There is a Linux distribution called Zorin OS <----search that !, but somehow failed to run properly in my compfuser -or I goofed- installing it.
It may be of interest : Can be made to look like Win7 or whatever other OS.