What is your favorite operating system?

Publish Date: Oct 14 '23

9 60

What is your all time favorite operating system and what makes it the best in your opinion?

Throughout the past few decades there have been several different computer operating systems built for specific purposes. From MacOS, Windows, and Linux to iOS, Android and everything in between.

If you're like me some of these stick out above all others and one will be, in your opinion, the best operating system of its time or maybe even of all time. Let's talk about your first time seeing it and what you used it for.

Comments 60 total

Paweł bbkr PabianOct 14, 2023
Tricky question because for Mac / Windows / Android desktop is integrated part of the operating system, which is not the case for Linux.

All time favorite system? MacOS Snow Leopard. Unfortunately from this point macOS got dumber and dumber with every release. I really do not like iPad-ish look of current version, lack of Vulkan support, FreeBSD directory mess under the hood and poor configurability. But back then Snow Leopard was pinnacle of power-user friendly desktop.

All time favorite system under the hood? Vanilla Arch Linux. I was long time Slackware, then Gentoo user. So fiddling with manual builds is my game and i love Arch documentation and simplicity. My current setup is Arch + KDE.

All time favorite workhorse system? Alpine Linux. My choice for Docker base and absolute king of low footprint and processing performance.
- Jordan-Tyler BurchettOct 14, 2023
  I remember Snow Leopard and I agree with you that it was a very good if not the best Apple delivered OS. I myself have only read about Vanilla bur haven't had the chance to fiddle with it yet but Arch is doing some wonderful things for the Linux community.
  
  Thank you for sharing!
  - Paweł bbkr PabianOct 15, 2023
    Vanilla = plain. Just stock Arch installed and configured from scratch.
- Dimitri MostreyOct 15, 2023
  Interesting answer.
  
  You remind me of something that happened around 2005-2009 to big software companies. Management got replaced from passionate computer savvy 'nerds' to Harvard graduates with a business degree. Good for the stakeholders. Not so good for the customers. That was a time we had to buy a new computer every 2 years or we were hopelessly behind.
  
  Because. Software giants began making backdoor deals with hardware manufacturers. A tit for a tat. And suddenly, the end-user experience became second to profit.
  
  Maybe, just maybe, the exponential growth of the smartphone market helped us out. In this sense, my Acer laptop is 6 years old and still does a fantastic job running the necessary programming software. Even heavy duty software as PHPStorm.
  
  The open-source community came to the rescue as well. Think Linux. Of course. And many many others.
  - Jordan-Tyler BurchettOct 15, 2023
    Development should be about passion and taking pride in being part of something bigger.
    
    On a separate note, as for people who decide to go to college congrats you guys but I don't think it's at all necessary to learn and build aspiring products. Now I'm not knocking people for going to college, any way you choose to learn and better yourself is great. Just along the way don't forget why you got interested in development in the first place.
    
    I have 2 years under my belt with no degree. I felt it was more important to stop and focus solely on what interested me. There are several alternative methods to educate yourself.
    
    Thank you for sharing!
- David SugarOct 16, 2023
  Indeed, Alpine is great for devices, too. Arch is especially useful for leading edge development. They have very current packages, and they build them with few patches, so it is a place to go to test and develop against the latest upstreams the way various packages were originally intended to be.
Eljay-AdobeOct 14, 2023
I'll always have a warm spot in my heart for Commodore AmigaOS (favorite), and Apple ProDOS (second place favorite).
- Cezary TomczykOct 14, 2023
  AmigaOS was brilliant!
- Jordan-Tyler BurchettOct 14, 2023
  Oh wow how did I miss this one?
  
  I actually have never seen AmigaOS but just looked it up and I simply have to try it out.
  
  Thank you for sharing!
EckehardOct 14, 2023
We should not forget that the concept of an "OS" does not apply to all computers. First Personal computers like the PET2001 came out with just a basic interpreter and this did a good job this time.

Most controllers do not need an OS at all (though you can use one), they can just boot into the code you have uploaded. So, for some applications I really appreciate not to have any OS at all...
- Jordan-Tyler BurchettOct 15, 2023
  I like the concept of not even needing an OS and how beneficial that would be on microcontrollers. I think most of the world doesn't know that's even possible to do but we use this technology all the time.
  
  Thank you for sharing! Happy venturing 🙂
Mel SardesOct 14, 2023
Manjaro Linux
- Jordan-Tyler BurchettOct 15, 2023
  Manjaro news alone is one of the biggest players in educating the public about Arch Linux and is definitely a great asset to the Linux community.
Thomas BntOct 15, 2023
A classic, Ubuntu 16.04 and 22.04
- Jordan-Tyler BurchettOct 15, 2023
  I'm an Avid Ubuntu user myself but that's mostly because it's what my OS is based on, so I need to stay current on it for that reason. Have you ever tried openSUSE?
  - Thomas BntOct 15, 2023
    Nope never
    - Jordan-Tyler BurchettOct 15, 2023
      openSUSE is definitely worth checking out. It takes a little getting used to from Ubuntu but once you dive into it the usability is very similar and things seem smooth. It has a safe feeling about it though it has a smaller community so I'm not sure about it for things like gaming but as a daily driver for feeling like your data is safe.
bugbOct 15, 2023
- Running containers: Amazon Linux (ARM based)
- Work: Arch + i3
- Reading, games, videos, music: Mac OS
- Jordan-Tyler BurchettOct 15, 2023
  I like how organized your response is, good choices. Most people use the same OS for everything but finding operating systems that best fit the task at hand a lot of times makes life easier whether it be for business or leisure.
Maria ZaitsevaOct 15, 2023
I used to be an avid Arch Linux fan. It broke sometimes when I updated it but it was fine.
- Jordan-Tyler BurchettOct 15, 2023
  Arch is making good strides but still has a way to go. I don't see them stopping anytime soon.
  
  Thank you for sharing!
Manpreet SinghOct 15, 2023
currently I am using arch and I have no complaints about it
- Jordan-Tyler BurchettOct 15, 2023
  I need more explanation with it myself. I'd like to one day try an Arch based build of RefreshOS.
  
  Thank you for sharing!
Imam Ali MustofaOct 15, 2023
Linux Mint Cinnamon with Cigarettes and Coffee
- Jordan-Tyler BurchettOct 15, 2023
  That's beautiful 😍
  - Imam Ali MustofaOct 16, 2023
    Ty bro...
Rizmy Abdulla 🎖️Oct 15, 2023
Windows 2.0 😂
- Jordan-Tyler BurchettOct 15, 2023
  😂 I respect that!
Noishorgo BrotoOct 15, 2023
Currently using Windows 10, but also interested in Linux and MacOS...
- Jordan-Tyler BurchettOct 15, 2023
  Good to have an expanded knowledge of different operating systems.
  
  Thank you for sharing!
Simon GreenOct 15, 2023
Definitely Linux. Started with Slackware, when you used floppy disks to install. Moved on to Debian in the late 90s, then Ubuntu in 2005. For the last twelve years, I've used Fedora. I use Gnome on my desktop, and XFCE on my netbook which only has 4 GB of RAM.
- Jordan-Tyler BurchettOct 15, 2023
  A diverse experience in different distros and desktops is important when finding that one that fits just right. You could make a perfect operating system but it not be perfect for the next person's needs.
  
  Customization is definitely important, a user should see themselves in something they spend all their time with. XFCE has always been one of my favorite DE's for this reason and it's lightweight work load.
  
  Thank you for sharing! Happy venturing 🙂
- Neil BOct 16, 2023
  I bought Slackware 1.0 on CD-ROM from a computer fair! And then shortly after I tried upgrading from a.out to ELF binaries and completely destroyed my install.
  - Jordan-Tyler BurchettOct 16, 2023
    So much experience in that one comment🙂 thank you for sharing!
Archie SmythOct 15, 2023
Win 10 gets the job done, but I hate it. I like Ubuntu 18+ followed by macOS of some kind. It can come with problems, but Linux of some flavour is highly recommended. The community is Linux & Mac OS tbh, with exceptions.
- Jordan-Tyler BurchettOct 15, 2023
  Windows 10 does get the job. Windows is more popular so has more support and more developers, which makes it convenient. I'd prefer a Linux desktop of almost any kind over Windows but I do use Windows a lot as well.
  
  Not trying to advertise just sharing but I made a distro called RefreshOS that's based on Kubuntu 22.04 LTS and has a Windows-like GUI.
  
  egotech.company/download_refreshos...
  - Archie SmythOct 16, 2023
    Nice I will take a look, thanks for the comment
rrsart2023Oct 15, 2023
KDE NEON Plasma
- Jordan-Tyler BurchettOct 15, 2023
  Very stable OS with the latest KDE Plasma features. One of my favorite distros
  
  Thank you for sharing!
Sérgio AraújoOct 15, 2023
Linux is the best environment for those to love learning and tune their systems. People who do not care about customization and are lazy go better with windows.
- Jordan-Tyler BurchettOct 15, 2023
  That's valid
  
  Thank you for sharing!
ArdiOct 15, 2023
linux, dont really care about distro as long as i3 or any tiling window manager available
- Jordan-Tyler BurchettOct 15, 2023
  Keeping an open mind is good.
  
  Thank you for sharing!
JoelBonetR 🥇Oct 15, 2023
- Best Linux distro I used: Elementary OS though I no longer use Linux for anything that's not a server, in which case I usually go for Debian.
- Best MacOSX version: This one is a bit convoluted, as I'm used to Mac for work (coding and so) I don't care much tbh, current version is better than the one before that's for sure.
- Best Windows version: Windows 11, is the one I use for gaming
- Best smartphone OS: Android 14 without any doubt, it's way more usability focused and I can do what I need to do much faster than with iOS and customize it for my needs way more.
Jordan-Tyler BurchettOct 15, 2023
Always 😊

Thank you for sharing!
HaxNetOct 15, 2023
Arch Linux
- Jordan-Tyler BurchettOct 16, 2023
  Good choice 🙂
  
  Thank you for sharing!
  - HaxNetOct 16, 2023
    I think AL is the best. I've used Windows, macOS, Ubuntu, Manjaro, but I feel like AL vanilla is the best because it is so customizable.
    - Jordan-Tyler BurchettOct 16, 2023
      Customization is very import
FeliciaOct 16, 2023
Unix since it is for most types and covers all whether desktop or mobile, etc. Since Unix is a mixed OS it allows Linux based even, and just what I prefer since I used Android
BasuOct 16, 2023
While the OS have been constantly improving and providing additional features with every passing build, I am still stuck in my imagination of a cross bread of Windows XP's elegance and Windows Vista's beauty. Windows 7 was a close thing to this.
I use Mac for office work and there are a few things that I don't like about it.
I have used Ubuntu during my college when I have an old machine.
Now, for personal use, I am using Windows 11 and every time an update comes, I panic. :D

But yeah I now think that ease of use is more important than anything else.
- Jordan-Tyler BurchettOct 16, 2023
  I miss the Windows XP days so much..
  
  Thank you for sharing!
Bogomil Shopov - БогоOct 16, 2023
Fedora :)
- Jordan-Tyler BurchettOct 16, 2023
  Linux distro OG
  
  Thank you for sharing!
Alice 🌈Oct 18, 2023
TempleOS. The guy who wrote it is truly a genius, and he is often forgotten about. It would be really fun if someone deployed a server with TempleOS
- Jordan-Tyler BurchettOct 19, 2023
  This is another one I hadn't seen yet but I now can't wait to try out..
  
  Thank you for sharing!
  - Alice 🌈Oct 19, 2023
    Oh it'll be fun. The funniest part is that OS was completely written from scratch, and it is not based on linux or windows or anything else. Just HolyC
    - Jordan-Tyler BurchettOct 19, 2023
      I noticed that when I was looking it up. The ones we know are good because the amount of support they have but it's always fun to play around with something different and fresh

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Jordan-Tyler Burchett @jordantylerburchett

What is your favorite operating system?

Comments 60 total