I had some very interesting conversations on the IRC the other day. I know quite a few of us are programmers, so I was wondering "What is your favorite computer operating system and why?" If you use a Linux operating system, I'd be interested to know which distro you use and why you prefer that distro you use over other distros of Linux.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/14/2009 05:56PM by Arikado.

I guess I'll start. Never having a choice over which operating system I use, I've always used the windows operating systems. Right now, I'm using Vista. I've also tried Windows XP and Mac OSX operating systems for multiple extended periods of time, and I must say that between the three, I prefer Vista. While Vista's not perfect, I find it far easier to use than MAC OSX and more secure than Windows XP. For the record, I'm looking forward to Windows Seven.

I started this topic because I'm getting my first laptop soon. For once, I'll get to choose which operating system I use and I'm strongly consider using a Linux operating system with it. What everyone says in this thread (particularly programmers), will partly affect my final desicion on which operating I choose to use.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/14/2009 06:08PM by Arikado.

I really liked Windows 2000 despite the number of security flaws in it (I was never affected by any of them).

There's also an operating system called Menuet -- [www.menuetos.net] -- which is pretty cool. I've not tried any of the latest updates though.

well, I have been a windows user for a long time, and I can't deny that vista looked great, and it was more secure that xp, but vista is just a resource-hungry monster!, even in windows home basic. For example, many games run noticeable slow on vista that xp, and the usb readings were a bit slow, although sp1 fixed a lot of this issues.
But the main problem with any windows os is that you need to be extra careful to protect your system against malware, so I installed a good firewall, a good anti virus, etc. just to find out my sister accepted a virus from msn, jaja...ahhh ...i was pissed.

About two years I tried Ubuntu (Debian based) and I must say I love it more everyday. The user interface is intuitive and fully customizable, it doesn't lag when you open several tasks (and I mean many many tasks) like windows, when i want to install something it's like a minute or so, and when some process goes stupid it doesn't affect the whole system, you don't even have to restart. All this time I never had any problems, crashes, errors, nothing! Overall it's a very stable system.
It seems I'm missing something...oh yeah! no viruses for Ubuntu! and it's completely free!
one last thing, for gaming I mainly used steam, and i thought i couldn't have that in Ubuntu, but as it turned out, you can "emulate" windows, and installed it anyway, fully functional with 0% lag.

btw, this computer is by no means "vista ultimate capable", but still, I'm able to run Ubuntu with almost the maximum graphic eye candy.

I could go on and on about it's multiple desktops (and the cube-cylinder-sphere desktop) and all it's greatness, but i recommend you try it yourself. You don't even have to uninstall windows, just do a dual booting like i did. (great thing since i messed up in windows now and it won't boot, but i can still access my files from Ubuntu)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/14/2009 07:34PM by Died2Well.

I love Vista. I hate Vista. I love to hate Windows. And I love pain. So I love Windows. =P

Seriously, Windows XP sucked for me, Vista is much better. And I also have a partition with Linux, openSUSE 11.0, but I didn't like the look... Kinda, I want Linux mainly for fun and pretty effects (and I don't have Aero on my Vista, so...).

Linux or Windows, for me, are both functional. What I really hate after all is rants about what it's the better system =/ A lot of Linuxists I see on interwebs are arrogant, to say the least. And most Windows dumb users, who mainly uses MSN, tend to be extremist.

Well, I agree with you, a few linux users are a bit arrogant, but most of them aren't as they don't represent the whole. It's a very nice community that will help you getting started and fix any of your problems when you are changing to a linux-based os.
however, ranting about which is the better seems pointless, and often it could lead to over the tone arguments.
different os have their pros and cons, and i just wanted to expose my personal experience about changing from windows to Ubuntu. Overall, i recommend Ubuntu, but as you can see, i still use vista.

The most noteworthy example of what should not be done is this------->[www.youtube.com]

long story short: a girl got a laptop with ubuntu, didn't know how to use it, and users started the hate mail rather that offering support. this has to stop.

update: well..yeah.the girl was a little dumb, but thats no reason to attack her. feel Free to lol though (i know i did).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/15/2009 06:38AM by Died2Well.

debian base is a good os, but i got a few buds whos prefer redhat based, and i use slackware. personally i like the older windows, but linux can do more(mainly because most of the software is open source) , but windows seems to be easier to navigate through, the only thing i have against linux is the loaders (grub, and lilo) they just dont work too well with vista, you really have to to some hunting down for scripts and other info to get them to work co-op, a lot of people may disagree with me, but i still like my windows 98 se computer, a little bit of tweaking was done to it to support more than 80gb hard drives.

I was helping my non tech-savvy friend learn how to use her new iPod and laptop yesterday. Her Laptop had Vista on it, and as far as first impressions, it hated it... navigates horribly.

vista is the worst, then 2000 nt, the 98... windows is doing too much intergrating of the apps built in it so the memory you have is basically worthless. all i need for my computer is 1 gig ram and a dual core procossesor.... plus my storage, other than that i dont need media player 10 or any other intergraded software.

and as far as linux goes, im trying to organize it like win 98se. its getting to be fun lol.

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cl87
vista is the worst, then 2000 nt, the 98... windows is doing too much intergrating of the apps built in it so the memory you have is basically worthless. all i need for my computer is 1 gig ram and a dual core procossesor.... plus my storage, other than that i dont need media player 10 or any other intergraded software.

and as far as linux goes, im trying to organize it like win 98se. its getting to be fun lol.

Vista then ME are the worst

I use Mint Linux, XP Pro, Server 2008, Server2003, XP64 Pro.

I need to say, a enormous advantage of most Linux distributions is they come with actually useful apps. =P
I hate WMP, Windows Mail, IE and etc... And also all the junk that Vista loads on startup...

I also miss some smart repository system for Windows...

lol 98 se

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cl87
lol 98 se

98SE was amazing, thats why no one wanted to switch to XP (I remember I didnt), buit XP is superior, in networking, performance, PnP, and hardware acceptance(Max specs and such), (and probably a few other areas).

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Arikado
I guess I'll start. Never having a choice over which operating system I use, I've always used the windows operating systems. Right now, I'm using Vista. I've also tried Windows XP and Mac OSX operating systems for multiple extended periods of time, and I must say that between the three, I prefer Vista. While Vista's not perfect, I find it far easier to use than MAC OSX and more secure than Windows XP. For the record, I'm looking forward to Windows Seven.

I started this topic because I'm getting my first laptop soon. For once, I'll get to choose which operating system I use and I'm strongly consider using a Linux operating system with it. What everyone says in this thread (particularly programmers), will partly affect my final desicion on which operating I choose to use.

[www.linux.org] would be the place to help you look at the many different distros of linux that you can play with, i recommend a live cd or a distro that runs on windows.

@ninjafish1990

98se is tweaked for my needs, moding some of the drivers and system file can let you do a few things. im still tweaking linux.

@c187
Thanks. Im actually thinking of running a dual boot operating system with ubuntu and vista.

sometimes there are problems with that if you do have them just let me know.

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Arikado
@c187
Thanks. Im actually thinking of running a dual boot operating system with ubuntu and vista.

I use Ubuntu currently but I will be switching to Gentoo soon. I have some strange wireless and graphics driver problems in Ubuntu that are annoying.
Also Ubuntu is a little unstable at times and has crashed more than other distros I've used.

Gentoo is a distro which uses source based package management. All of the packages are compiled for your hardware and software.
It is harder to set up then other distros but there is a lot of documentation.
[gentoo.org]

I really like ubuntu linux the only problem is that it doesn't recognize the dolby home theater built into my laptop so there is no sound. Also last I checked there is no legal way to use a blueray drive with ubuntu

I've also been considering using arch instead of ubuntu. However, arch looks a little to involved/complex for someone like myself who has never used linux before.

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Arikado
I've also been considering using arch instead of ubuntu. However, arch looks a little to involved/complex for someone like myself who has never used linux before.

I have used Arch before and it is pretty good. Arch would be hard to use for someone who has never used Linux before though.
After you get used to using terminal and start to understand how a Linux system works then I would suggest using Gentoo or Arch.