This poll is a bit bad. I'm highly against fanboy war-crap, in which the outcries of Linux fans outweigh those of any other (well, maybe a close tie with Apple fans) OS fangroup. Usually a minority, convinced of their favorite product's superiority and need to convert everyone to their religion. it's gotten to a point where those few fanboys (only a portion of the OS userbase) making a lot of noise are incredibly annoying. MINE IS BETTER.

Guess what, competition owns. We all have several needs and place priorities on other crap. Linux is very tech friendly, and very preferable to use on several non-PC systems. It has a lot of disadvantages as well, which I'm sure you're capable of finding as well. You might not find them disadvantages because your needs don't place a high value on them, others do.
Apple is for those who like it simple, and pays its price in customizability and compatibility on many aspects. Doesn't have to be rich, as long as it's "all-in-one". That's fine.

Each have a designated market and most (especially those in linux/apple) are comfortable with their choice. It's not that Windows users haven't heard of the other options and need to have it spammed in their faces to be "converted to the light side".

There would be so much less crap on the internet if it were "X fits me better than Y" than all the "War of the OS world, MY OS IS BETTER, YOU ARE IGNORANT YOU FOOL!" garbage that is everywhere.

/rant


That put aside, I'm familiar with several OS and for my desktop at home prefer Vista in many aspects. Despite what XP fans may think (Yes, XP is great and I have been using it too. But guess what, Vista is indeed much more than just graphics), Vista is vastly superior in stability. Initial ram usage is higher, but not why you think it is (it has better ram management) I lost a good quote on this, I'll try to find it back. I also have the machine (SUPAH COMPUTER 10000$! ) to support it.

This post has been edited by Alegis: Aug 29 2007, 10:10 PM

When was competition crap (except to the monopoly, which in this case, Microsoft). Aren't we suppose to embrace competition, so that we get new and better technologies and not sack the industry with shotty products?

xboxrulz

I have used the following Microsoft operating systems :
- ms-dos,
- windows 95,
- windows 98,
- windows me,
- windowsXP
- windows 2003 server

Right now I have windows XP and Red Hat Fedora core 7 installed on my machine. Within the last year I have been moving toward using Linux. I like Linux because of several reasons.

Most standard computer programs are available for Linux. Several Linux programs can read and write Microsoft Office files. So, if all you do with a computer is manage e-mail (Evolution can be used which is same as microsoft's outlook), create documents (open office can be used which supports all ms office formats), create graphics files (using gimp) and use spreadsheets, Linux programs do all those things very well.

Until recently Linux has been more difficult to install and use than Windows. However, over the last two years there has been a effort by several Linux companies to make Linux easy to use by an average user.

But why should one bother learning to use a new operating system other than the Windows one she is now using?

Here are the reasons:

• Linux hardly ever crashes, mainly because the basic low-level operating program (called the kernel) that keeps the computer running is small. So, even when things go wrong with some higher-level part of the operating system or with a program, the kernel keeps chugging away.
• Linux almost never has to be rebooted after installing a new program. This saves much valuable user time and aggravation over the life time of a machine.
• In most cases the Linux file system does not have to be defragmented regularly, such as Windows does, to keep it from slowing down.
  
• Linux allows up to 16 different views of the desktop, I use 4 of them. In other words, programs that are running can be associated with different views of the desktop; you will see only the program windows for the desktop view of current interest. It is easy to switch from one desktop view to another by buttons on the task bar.
• There are many free or inexpensive programs available for Linux.
• It cost less to install and operate.
• By the way, most of the servers that provide web pages on the Internet are running Linux.
• Permission is not needed from anybody to move Linux from one machine to another owned by the same person. In fact, it can be installed on as many computers as there are in a given home at no extra charge. You can install it as a dual boot with a Windows system in order to try it out while still keeping Windows available.

There are several different versions of Linux that are available for the desktop computers. I have tried Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Fedora, Open Suse10 and Knoppix.All are good in one way or the other. eg. Knoppix is a very good on CD/DVD operating system which you dont have to install and you can use it by simply booting the system with it. Its DVD version contains a huge amount softwares whereas SUSE's GUI is really very impressive and its packages are also really very good. Whereas Fedora is free distribution from redhat. Although it doesnt have vary good multimedia support like SUSE but it is very good for learning purpose.

if you all could just get over yourselves thinking which os is better youd find out that this is very stupid. i mean a os is a simple program that makes stuff run. its not some foot ball team ready to fight one another. if i redesigned the perfect os. it would be windows with the mac interface and the linux tools for power users.

The Mac Interface? ROFL, Linux Power Tools? ROFL again, indeed.

What Windows needs is some real flexibility in the departmant of looks (some real theming) and some better tools for keeping everything running smoothly (we still pretty much have the same old stuff....).

XP is awesome, yes it might have some backdoors. But, the platform of the system is stable 95% of the time. The installation process is easy and simple but one bad thing about XP, the Windows Genuine Advantage. If you're a genuine user (like me), you can get your Product Key stolen (physically eg. COA on case or technically, hacker), them MS will think that the PID is non-genuine (pirated) and then block it. Then, you only got critical updates only and limited downloads in the MS Download Center.

Linux is a open-source system that works well and provide the best security. (30viruses or less) Also, theres lots of alternative open source programs like OpenOffice for MS Office, Firefox for IE(whos uses this!). Plus, there are lots of hardware compatible with Linux, just using community-created drivers. Debian-based Ubuntu is recommended for beginners.

I have not experienced with Mac (been on it), but it look good, especially Mac OS X Leopard.

I am planning to test Vista soon and I'll get on it when I install.

xxxx-jozh-xxxx

A close call between Vista and XP... but Vista gets it in the end.

I don't think Mac is as good as Vista YET, but in 5 years time I will probably eat my words...

I'm going with either Vista or XP. This decision is made purely on amount of software available for Windows over all other operating systems.

But if I wanted to get more picky, I could whine about the fact that Mac's are impossible to upgrade (which is why I'd never get a Mac, regardless of how good their Operating System is) and support for Linux is impossible to find on other than a forum. I run a really old computer at the moment, and the driver support that Ubuntu etc offers is only for up to date hardware items. Which is a shame, because I really enjoy Ubuntu on my mates computer. When I get my new computer I will try to triple boot XP, Vista and Ubuntu, but until then, XP for me.

In my opinion Windows XP is the best system. However, I can not make a fair call, or vote a an unbiased vote because I have yet to try Linux, and other Operating
Systems such as those found on Mac Machines. The systems I do have experience with include Windows 95, 98, ME, and XP. I didn't mind 95, or 98 because they were all there was, however, ME (Millennium Addition), was a bit on the buggy side. XP blows all the older Microsoft Systems out of the water because of the amount of features it has, however there are still a few kinks. I have yet to try Vista, but I ahve heard it is a bit buggy, as well, and lacks support for a good number of applications and various Hardware Drivers.

I would have to say linux because it run's faster then windows and uses less ram/memory and i really like winehq. but i guess windows xp cause all hardware just about supports it with apps and all i can't find every thing i need for linux so i have dualboot windows xp and vista it looks good but it has some bugs which i hate and i wish they would fix and and make it run fast as windows xp and no lag or using 100% cpu at a time but maybe in a year it'll be like xp.