Linux, windows, macintosh.

[Cale_Hagan]

which do you have, which do you use on a frequent basis, and which is your favorite? the poll is on favorite...

Mine is windows 7, just because i do a lot of games, and for ease of use. i know i know.... kind of a weird statement. i also love Linux, i just need to start using it more... that's what i have on my netbook, had 7 re installed for Linux. i love it because it is not a resource hog.

[x88x]

I have two systems at the moment that run Windows. My main desktop runs Windows 7 because I use it for gaming and I learned a long time ago that dual-booting a primary system is pointless (because I end up spending all my time in one OS anyways). The other system is my dedicated folding box running Windows XP, but that's just because GPU folding only works in Windows.

Every other computer I own runs some version of Linux. My laptop, my fileserver, my SSH portal, hell, even my router. :P On my laptop I run Ubuntu because that's what I'm most familiar with (not too happy with some recent design decisions they've made though, so that might change in the future), on my fileserver I run Ubuntu Server because it's a bit easier to do a few things with than Debian. Any other servers and/or VMs, I usually use Debian because it's very lightweight and stable and I'm more familiar with the Debian/apt architecture. I do from time to time find another distro more useful, however. For live-CDs I have a certain soft-spot for DSL and Puppy, for example.

EDIT:
To expand on my choice of Linux as a preferred OS, these are the main reasons I prefer it:
1) It's OSS. In other words, there's no licensing to worry about, I don't have someone else telling me how I can and cannot use it, and in using it I am supporting a design and production philosophy that is all too rare in today's world (see my sig).
2) It's free.
3) Control originates from the CLI, not from GUIs (not to say there aren't GUIs to do most everything, but the GUIs hook into the CLI commands instead of the GUIs directly reaching to the system with no way of doing it from the CLI like most of Windows is designed...and yes, I know about PowerShell, but that's a relatively recent change).
4) It just damn works for me. Keep in mind that most of what I do with computers outside of the browser and gaming is stuff that either started out being done on *nix systems anyway, is just as easily done on any OS, or just is not exactly easy to accomplish on the Windows architecture because of inherent limitations present in it. Go ahead; try putting a wireless interface into monitor mode in Windows. Let me know how that works out for you. :P
5) It's almost always a lot lighter on system resources than Windows.

[AmEv]

If I could, I'd be running Kubuntu on all my machines.
My desktop runs XP pro.
My laptop runs Ubuntu 11.04 right now; Kubuntu is a bit system-heavy on it right now....

[Twigsoffury]

Windows 7 UL x64 / Windows 7 SP2 x86

dual boot.

[DynamoNED]

My OS of choice is Windows 7 64-bit. For me, edition (Home Premium, Pro, Ultimate) doesn't matter so much: If there is some feature I need, I can probably find a legit app or utility for free that will do what I need. I use Windows on most of my PC's for games as well as compatibility reasons.

I also admit that there is a lot to like in Linux, as well. In my undergrad Comp. Sci. work, I learned most of the basics of Linux, as one of my professors made us do almost all our work by ssh'ing into a server running Fedora using Putty. CLI C/C++ compiling has its quirks, but it was a great learning experience. These days, when I do use Linux, though, I prefer something with a nice GUI, like Ubuntu. My favorite part of any Linux distro: It's great for resurrecting old hardware. I had my parents' old computer from 2001 (1.4Ghz P4, 256MB PC800 RDRAM)running as a little Linux file server and for its age, it zipped along just fine, until the 9 year old HDD finally gave out. (What was it running before Linux? Windows ME. /Shudder...Scary, I know.) I just bought the replacement drive, which should be arriving next week.

[AmEv]

The REALLY nice part about Ubuntu? Unified package management.
I do understand that there are few virii because it's not THAT popular.
But, I always find it's lighter than Windows 7, definitely on battery, especially on HDD space.

[TheMainMan]

Windows 7 64-bit for me. Hard to argue with the price of FREE! MSND-AA through my school for both desktops, came pre-installed on my laptop. Laptop is Home Premium, desktops are Pro. Love the integration of WMC so that it plays nicely with the Xbox 360.

[CorsePerVita]

Still using XP for my gaming machine but we use linux/mac at work quite a good bit.

[luciusad2004]

Oh man... Only person to select Mac OS X.
I guess I'm the minority but I've just always found it pleasant to use for general use. (browsing the web, dicking around, etc.) It just feels like a very well polished *nix box to me. That being said, I don't own a mac at the moment and primarily use XP because its what I have and I like to have at least one Windows machine in my home.

A close second if not equal would be any Linux distro. Though last time i tried out the latest version of Gnome i wasn't liking it all that much and actually felt pretty unhappy with my Ubuntu box. I started using XFCE again but haven't been using my desktop lately as my laptop is a bit more powerful and performs better.

Edit: Once I rebuild my PC i'll probably be throwing Windows 7 on it for gaming and then possibly installing Ubuntu on my laptop for general use depending on compatibility.

[x88x]

It just feels like a very well polished *nix box to me.
There's a very good reason for that. ;)

Personally I've just never really meshed with OS X. Partly because I've never been able to bring myself to buy a Mac, partly because I don't like the idea of having to hack on an application management system in a *nix OS....and not having the ability out of the box to compile my own stuff if I want to.

[luciusad2004]

There's a very good reason for that. ;)

Personally I've just never really meshed with OS X. Partly because I've never been able to bring myself to buy a Mac, partly because I don't like the idea of having to hack on an application management system in a *nix OS....and not having the ability out of the box to compile my own stuff if I want to.

lol. I realize the reason for the similarities. I've never really bothered with compiling applications from source though so that's never bothered me but i know my old copy of OSX came with a Developers Suit of some sort. Not sure if they still do in the "modern" releases.

I can't vouch for any recent changes in Lion but I never had a problem with the way OSX handled applications. But I probably never used package management in Linux to its fullest potential. I'm not a huge fan of the Mac App store though as I would prefer to get software on my own as i see fit instead of through the "Apple approved" channels. I'm not a huge fan of the "iPodification" of the system that they seem to be working towards.

I would by a Mac for a laptop.
I like the build quality, the form factor is easy on the eyes, and i probably wouldn't user a laptop for heavy lifting. It's rare that I find a "PC" laptop that makes me WANT to look at/touch it. For a desktop i would much rather build my own system.

All that being said, if *nix distributions were a bit more polished and worked as seamlessly as OS X they would probably take my number one spot. And fwiw i really do hate the Apple lock in. My best friend has a mac that is probably no more than 3 years old that is virtually unsupported at this point. I just think they make nice machines.

[x88x]

I can't vouch for any recent changes in Lion but I never had a problem with the way OSX handled applications.
It's not like the Windows way is any better, and I can't really comment on the Mac Store having never used it. It's just do hard to go back to anything else after having used a well designed and well integrated application management system like so many of the more mainstream Linux distros have.


I would by a Mac for a laptop.
I like the build quality, the form factor is easy on the eyes, and i probably wouldn't user a laptop for heavy lifting. It's rare that I find a "PC" laptop that makes me WANT to look at/touch it.
Yeah, they definitely are easy on the eyes. Personally I prefer Thinkpads though...I guess that says a lot about my aesthetic tastes. :P

[luciusad2004]

I see what you mean about the Repository system. I haven't used lion myself but if anything I think the Mac App Store will bring it slightly closer to the way the repository system works in linux. Of course it will just be in a much more locked down, less useful way. lol

And nothing wrong with Thinkpads lol. We support them hear at work and I think I'm the only person to compliment them. They may not be lookers but they aren't anywhere near as gaudy as consumer laptops and I've always had good experiences with them in terms of reliability. Just don't ask any of our sales reps what they think of their laptops. :bash:

Do you have Thinkpads running linux? I would eventually like to get a laptop that has good Linux support. My current laptops a Dell. I haven't tried it out yet, but if I can get spare harddrive I was going to see how Ubuntu runs on it.

[x88x]

Heheh, yeah, in my laptop choices I go less the 'does it look pretty' route and more the 'will it still work after I'm done beating the crap out of it' route. ;) Best upgrade I ever made to it was replacing the HDD with an SSD. :twisted:


Do you have Thinkpads running linux?

Yup! :D They have a very large following in the Linux community, so they're usually very well supported. I ran Ubuntu on the R61 I got in college, and I run it now on my X200. Both have worked beautifully. The only problem I have with it is that since the power management stuff isn't as well developed in Ubuntu (or at least, I never bothered to get it configured properly) I get less battery life than I did in Vista (what the X200 shipped with). In Vista, with all the special drivers and everything installed, if I had the brightness turned down to ~50-60% and the bluetooth turned off I would get around 9 hours out of my 9-cell battery. In Ubuntu, with a similar configuration, I only get around 6 hours. Still plenty for my purposes, but it would be nice to be able to get the full potential.

For details on Linux support for a specific Thinkpad model, check out this site:
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/ThinkWiki

[luciusad2004]

Awesome, thanks for the link.
X200 and T400s are what we support here at work.
I think I liked the T400 laptops a bit more but I don't get to keep one of those at my desk as most of our Reps have the X200t because they need the tablet screen.

Id love if we could convert to *nix or something a little more lightweight than the image we run on these things. Ours run XP and they run like garbage. They are supposedly hoping to upgrade to 7 by the end of the year but every time we talk about how they want to deploy the update it just sounds like its going to be a nightmare. The current, rumored plan is to mail out flash drives to a few thousand sales reps all across the nation and have them back up and then upgrade on their own. :whistler:

[x88x]

Ours run XP and they run like garbage.
Sounds like there's something funky with that image. Mine flew with Vista, even when it only had 2GB of RAM.

[luciusad2004]

Sounds like there's something funky with that image. Mine flew with Vista, even when it only had 2GB of RAM.

It's the software they run. We do tech support for Pharma Corp Sales Reps and the software they use for logging interactions with doctors takes up massive amounts of resources and/or just doesn't run that well.

[x88x]

Hurray for poorly written custom applications. :facepalm:

[AmEv]

My brother's computer is an HP with Vista and 2GB RAM.
I personally think it is cruizing.

(very tempted to remove the "HP Advisor"...)

[luciusad2004]

My brother's computer is an HP with Vista and 2GB RAM.
I personally think it is cruizing.

(very tempted to remove the "HP Advisor"...)

What's the HP Advisor do? OEM Crapware? I always remove stuff like that on my computers as most of it is useless.

[Cale_Hagan]

What's the HP Advisor do? OEM Crapware? I always remove stuff like that on my computers as most of it is useless.

yep :whistler:

[SXRguyinMA]

my fav is W7 hands down. OSX is just...well....ick...and I don't know enough about any kind of Linux to comment on it, but I plan on learning!

[SXRguyinMA]

I just got this: (pw is makeuseof)
http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/download-new-life-bring-old-pc-to-life-with-ubuntu-pdf

So I'm going to learn :D

[x88x]

Great to hear! :D If you have any questions, there are plenty of us *nix geeks around here that would be happy to help.

[ianclarkson55]

I chose: others.
I loved windows 98. Damn cool than today's OS :P

[AmEv]

Two biggest problems with 98?
Security, security.


Security #1 was, despite the fact that there was a login screen, you could hit Cancel and have full administrative rights.
Security #2 was it was too easy to nuke your hard drive with, say, a batch file or pure idiodicy. "Format C:", anyone?

[Xpirate]

I can't vote because I ride the fence between Windows and Linux. I like to use Linux because it boots up fast and it is not that hard to make things work with it like it was years ago.

However, there are programs that I like on Windows that I can't give up yet. I like Word, Excel, and Powerpoint better than the equivalent OpenOffice offerings. I also can't find a replacement for Quicken on Linux that I like as well as it.

So I usually at least run XP in a virtual machine just for those programs. I'm currently running XP with a couple Linux distros with VMware on my main machine.

[adebbb]

Macintosh and Apple are the same thing.

[x88x]

Macintosh and Apple are the same thing.

Yes...very good...they are the same thing. Good job looking all non-spammy there. ;)

..well, unless you're talking about the Apple music label, in which case...no, they're not the same thing..

[AmEv]

Spam coming to an all-time low: forgetting their links! lol

[Twigsoffury]

oops haha i meant windows XP SP2

not windows 7

: |

[Cale_Hagan]

x88x, amEv, i don't believe in total it was spam, looking at his other posts... i always check that out first before talking bout that... it looks like he/she is used to another language, and english is his/her second language, from context of other posts. :think:

[PartyLikeARockstar]

All the above, on seperate drives!