The Better OS...

[pjpdev]

I'd really like to know what others opinions are on the best OS. I use both Windows and Linux, but I like Linux more. Why? It's truly a powerful OS, you're in full control with Linux - and there is no BSOD bothering you.

[ize]

MS-Dos 6.2

[AthenaOfDelphi]

Having used a mix of both in commercial systems, the choice should be very much dependent on the application. People have long said that Windows servers for example are not as stable and reliable as Linux... thats bogus... our game systems run on a mix of both, chosen for their relative strengths in a particular application area and the Windows servers stay up running as long and reliably as the Linux servers.

So, let me qualify this with some examples.

Our database server runs Fedora (until recently it was running RedHat Linux 7.3) and on that platform I run MySQL and some services including Apache for our development toolbox applications (Mantis, dotProject to name two) and our Subversion repository... I chose Linux because I wanted a more mature implementation of MySQL and at the time (nearly 10 years ago) the Windows support wasn't as good.

On the flipside, I originally started writing our web server to run on Linux, with Kylix, but I found the performance of various elements of the system to be poor when compared with the equivalent code on Windows. So, for performance purposes I moved to developing the server to run under Windows. This caused me some hassle because Windows had problems with deallocating memory, so I had to find a better memory manager than the default Borland one.

And finally, our LAN gateway. Our game runs over our ADSL connection, so we have a need for public and private areas of our LAN. This is handled by our gateway. This runs Linux for security and the easy availability of some fine tools for firewalling and LAN monitoring.

So, the order of the day as far as OS choice is concerned should be to analyse the intended purpose and chose an OS based on that. For desktop use, unfortunately in my humble opinion, Windows XP is still streets ahead of Linux because it's easy to use. The Linux desktop, whilst it's made some great steps forward, still has a long way to go before it is as easy to use for non-technical users.

Availability of applications should also be considered. I know with Linux there are some great open source applications, but if you consider the one that perhaps most people will use, Office, I've used OpenOffice and Microsoft Office, and in terms of functionality, there is no comparison. Microsoft Office is absolutely amazing, as are many other commercial applications that simply have no open source equivalent of similar quality. So, once again, the best choice will depend on the final application. If all you want to do is read your emails, surf and type the odd letter or the odd spreadsheet... Linux and OpenOffice is probably fine. But for more advanced stuff, Windows and Office is probably the order of the day.

Even embedded PC applications should give careful consideration to operating system... yes you can run Linux, but Windows XP Embedded is an amazing toolset allowing you to create tiny Windows XP OS images that are fast and reliable.

So, in short... there is no real 'better OS'. It's a matter of personal preference when you're using it on your desktop and making the correct choice when using it for servers or business etc. Establish your requirements and then use those to determine which OS based on their relatives strengths and weaknesses.

As for BSODs... the last time I saw a BSOD was... well... I can't remember when, but I do know it was sometime last year and was caused by my Yamaha soundcard... a device that lost official support from Yamaha many many years ago. But, the good thing about the BSOD was that it gave me clear concise information... enough to identify the cause. My personal experience with Linux however is quite different. I've had several occassions when a Linux server in my care has experienced inexplicable crashes and despite my best efforts, I've had no logs, no error messages, nothing at all to work with... not even anything on a serial console... so the BSOD does have some advantages :-)

My personal choice is Windows XP Pro for my development machines (laptop and desktop, although my laptop only runs Home) and a decent Linux distribution for my database servers.

Thats my $0.02 on the best OS :-)

[Wizard]

I use Vista Ultimate on both my Laptop and Desktop and I have no problems to rant about

[noeska]

There is no such thing as an best os in general. It just depends on your needs.
On my servers i use linux. But for my day to day use i would not like to do without windows xp.

But my all time favourite os is still beos :-). It is a pity that one did not work out.

[chronozphere]

I have not voted because I simply don't know.

I've used XP and Vista and in general they work fine for me. However, I've heard great stories about Linux and BSD. I only have experience with mircrosoft OS'es, so I cant compare them and make my choice.

[pjpdev]

The Linux I use is called Ubuntu Linux, this is by far the most user friendly Linux yet. And its fun to toy around with Lazarus on it...

[NecroDOME]

Windows FTW!!

[Ñuño Martínez]

OS/2 Warp

I agree with noeska. I use GNU/Linux to develop my programs because its stable and recovers from runtime errors better than others. By the way I prefer OS/2 for other stuff. Unfortunately OS/2 is dead...

[arthurprs]

windows