What kind of OS do YOU use? The big survey.

[monkey jesus]

Linux for work, Windows 7 for play.

Tried steam under wine in Ubuntu but my gaming time is fairly limited so I didn't want to waste too much of it fault finding. Plus I can be fairly certain that my windows gaming box will run a game on day of release so I'm confident to buy it.

I reckon I'd be tempted away by a decent mac and bootcamp but I'll probably stick with PC's so I can upgrade without having to re-mortgage.

 

[OriginalJoeBlack]

Bootcamp (on my Mac laptop):
32GB partition for Windows 7 64 bit (of which >16GB was used by the OS and the software I needed to play games. What the sh*t, Microsoft?)

Well, buy a "normal" gaming rig then. It does not cost more than a MacBook or iMac, in fact, it is even cheaper.

 

[LadyRhian]

Yes, it's one of those. But I actually NEED to know it. I'm studying computer technology at the moment and we are tasked with finding out what kind of OS people use, and what is the most popular. I wanted to start a pool, but we are interested in every OS you use, be it laptops, home computers, handhelds, everything. We would also like to know why you use it and what you like about and what you hate about it.

In short, what OS and why?

Edit: Reson why I didn't want a pool: Well, it's just because the pool limits the options. I would never have had such a good response like the first post and some of the others down there if they just voted and moved on. We are interested in everything here. Pools regarding OS is also a little stupid because there are so many and I could never fit everything into a pool. So there you have it

It's spelled pole, not "poole".
I use windows 7

That would be "poll", not "pole". Unless you are talking about wooden logs or hollow or solid round metal constructs.

 

[bam13302]

Windows 7 64 bit for my desktop, reason, dx11 and gaming
Windows xp 32 bit for my laptops, all they need is word processing and the internet
Red Hat 4.8 at work for security (linux)
OpenSUSE 11.1 when i get board to screw around in on my desktop
I used Windows 7 64 bit the most by far though

Spoiler: Mac vs PC

mac- What are you doing PC?
PC- Just playing games.
mac- Really, which ones?
PC- Oh, you know, all of them.

 

[Declaro]

Laptop, Mac OS X Snow Leopard. I have no complaints and can't imagine using anything else, except maybe Bootcamp for gaming. (I can't do that anyway, my laptop has a crappy graphics card. But someday...)

 

[HuntrRose]

Dual booting Windows and Linux is generally considered to be a bad idea, that's well known. And printing with Ubuntu is... temperamental; a lot of the other OS's do it better (Ubuntu locks away a lot of the functionality to protect users for security reasons).

I'll disagree with you about sudo though; one of the best things about Ubuntu is that it is installed and used by default (it's an optional package for most distributions). If you really want to use sudo with GUI objects you have to use gksudo (e.g. with gedit or nautilus). The reason I think it's good is that it makes you really think before doing anything that could damage the computer (which is really easy to do in Linux: 'rm -rf /' for instance).

Finally, doing things on the command line is the Linux (well, Unix) way. The reason is that it lets you automate tasks that much more effectively. Got a lot of tasks that have to be run together? Just throw them into a quick shell script and run that. It makes things much more convenient once you get used to it.[/quote]

I've never had any problems with dualbooting. Only thing to remember is that you want to install windows first and let grub find and start both linux and windows. OR you can muck about in the Master Boot Record after installing both system if you really want to.

Also, I've never had any problems printing from Linux. Then again I usually don't use Ubuntu, but the Ubuntu's I've set up works like a charm, also with printing. I agree with sudo, it's brilliant in order to keep you from wreaking your system. Then I again, I tend to use "sudo bash" myself, thus bypassing the whole point =P

As for the command line, I agree. It's brilliant when you know it, but can be really hard to learn if you've never even seen command in windows before. So it's good 99.9% or more of all tasks in the major Linux distributions can be done via GUI (that is mouse and clicking on icons and such for those that were wondering) now.

 

[Frybird]

Windows 7 Pro, with a bit of playing around with Jolicloud (i kinda like simple, small and easy to use Linux-Distros)

Before i had Windows Vista. It was delivered with the computer, and it was already SP1 or something, and i never really had that much Problems with it (although i might want to add that my laptop was fairly high-end for the time)

Tried Kubuntu and OpenSUSE in the past, liked both but back when i wanted to make it my "main" OS, I got fairly annoyed with the WLAN-Drivers, so i ended up using WinXP.


So yeah, i guess what i can say is this:

- Windows, EVERY Windows and especially 7, is good enough for every one (if you can/want to spend the money) and despite what Computer Nerds say, there is nothing really wrong with it as long as you don't have awkward demands or if you are nitpicky.

- "Modern", User Friendly Linux Distros like Ubuntu are still very much worth a try. If you only have low demands for what you PC can do (Internet, Write stuff, Multimedia), you might be even better served with them since after a some initial preparation, it can do those things faster and more stable than Windows, with almost the same User-Friendliness and without the fear of Adware and Viruses.
That said, if something DOES NOT work, it can give newcomers and even some veterans quite a headache.
And if you dabble around in Networking and Stuff, Linux is pretty much a given anyways.

 

[Vildleder]

I use Mac OS X on my macbook, not because I'm an Apple fanboy, but because when you are not very technologically savvy, Mac works, does what you want it to do and doesn't create a fuss about it.

If you haven't tried OS X, whether on a mac or a PC, and you just hate it on principle, you're honestly missing out. If you've tried it and though "this isn't really for me" then by all means, use something else, no problem. But unless you've tried it (and more than just for 2 minutes in a shop), you really can't formulate a proper opinion about the OS.

On the side, I run Windows XP in Parallels for the few school programs which my college need me to run, and for some prime time C&C Tiberian Sun Works surprisingly well (Parallels, not XP).

 

[Dys]

Windows Vista, I really don't see why people hated it so much. I've had it a few years now and haven't had too many problems

Edit:

Vista Ultimate 32bit

People hate it cause the subsystems use way more resources than they need. Switch to Win7, and you'll have more CPU and RAM available for programs

If you have an issue with CPU and RAM being hogged it's hardly worth using a 64bit system (and there's no reason to use any windows build since 2000 if you're running a 32bit system). I hated XP, and was glad that Vista was something more than a re skinned windows 2000. Complaining that windows Vista runs poorly on an XP era system is like complaining that IOS 4 runs poorly on an iphone 3G (which is does, and amazed that apple let people install)...If your tech is outdated or underpowered then the system manufacturer is at fault, not the OS.

on topic, I have a laptop (for uni/gaming) running windows7 64 bit and a desktop running ubunu a windows 7 64 partition (it's pretty much never booted into anything other than ubuntu unless my laptop is out of comission for some reason) .

 

[^=ash=^]

Win. 7 64 bit on my Sony Vaio laptop.

 

[MegaR]

windows 7 64-bit
though if you could play the samen games on linux as on windows i would go for linux.

 

[Zenoss]

Win 7 64bit rig that I built for gaming.

iMac that i use for everything else. running OSX10.6, Snow Leopard

 

[Hateren47]

2 x Windows 7 64bit and loving it. Works great as a HTPC OS as well with the taller superbar.

 

[natural20]

I dual-boot Ubuntu and Windows 7, with Windows for iTunes, Netflix, and games, and Ubuntu for everything else. Pretty much only got Windows because I had to... Linux is secure, does everything I want it to, customizable, and oh geeze I sound like a geek... but I am, so it's cool.

Anyway, Linux as primary, Windows for entertainment value.

 

[Mr. Purple]

<color=purple>Ummm, on my custom PC at home, I run Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit. Ive had no major problems so Ive neglected to upgrade. While I liked XP, I still think i'd rather have Vista and 7 wasnt released when I installed Vista soooo yeeeaaaa.
I do believe you said you wanted to know what OS we used on everything. PC's, laptops and handhelds alike.
I dont have my own netbook or laptop, but my brother has both. He uses Vista on his netbook I believe. I might prefer XP to save RAM, but as long as its not the crappy integrated linux-based thing they were using on the first netbooks. >.>
The laptop I believe was using XP for a while and it was nice on his laptop. It just ran better.
Ummmm, as for handhelds, i have a PSP if that counts lol. Custom firmware. Thaaaats about all I can contribute.

 

[Cozzzy]

Windows 7 32 bit on my laptop (use it frequently for casual / "normal" stuff; originally came with Vista but Christ that was awful).

Windows XP on my old computer (older games (that have problems with new comp quad core etc) and modding).

Windows XP on my gaming computer.

I actually like Windows 7, but for modding and backwards compatability it's absolute hell.

 

[knhirt]

I dual-boot Snow Leopard and Windows XP SP3.

Snow Leopard for the following reasons:
I am more productive in Mac OS X, due to the fact that I'm more accustomed to the way it works and the keyboard shortcuts and all the little tricks that I've picked up over the years. I've also got some amazing software on the Mac side that I couldn't do without, like Coda for web-development and Alfred for launching applications and files. It is also a more aesthetic environment in my opinion, which matters a lot to me.

XP I use for gaming, because I'm not happy about the state of graphics drivers for games in OS X-land. There are also a few pieces of software that I like to use every once in a while that have either substandard Mac equivalents, or none at all.

 

[Greyhald]

Windows 7 Professional (64 bit) and Fedora 12 on my comoputer (not that I use Linux much anymore).

Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit) on the 2 laptops in the house.

Windows XP SP3 (32 bit) on the family computer.

 

[Anti Nudist Cupcake]

Yes, it's one of those. But I actually NEED to know it. I'm studying computer technology at the moment and we are tasked with finding out what kind of OS people use, and what is the most popular. I wanted to start a pool, but we are interested in every OS you use, be it laptops, home computers, handhelds, everything. We would also like to know why you use it and what you like about and what you hate about it.

In short, what OS and why?

Edit: Reson why I didn't want a pool: Well, it's just because the pool limits the options. I would never have had such a good response like the first post and some of the others down there if they just voted and moved on. We are interested in everything here. Pools regarding OS is also a little stupid because there are so many and I could never fit everything into a pool. So there you have it

It's spelled pole, not "poole".
I use windows 7

That would be "poll", not "pole". Unless you are talking about wooden logs or hollow or solid round metal constructs.

Oh crap. Now I feel silly.
I was thinking about how it's pronounced, haven't been sleeping much.
Atleast I admit my failures!