Ask HN: What's your favorite OS and why?

#1

Post by jfaucett » Fri, Aug 17, 2012, 8:41 PM UTC

I'd like to preface this by saying I'm hardcore linux biased :) - but I'd love to hear your most favorite features of any other os as well as things you don't like about it/others. Basically, why do like your os setup and what is it?

Personally, as much as I like linux, drivers issues are simply a pain, who want's to have to spend hours in forums and on google before buying a monitor to make sure its compat?

But drivers issues asside, linux is great for me as a developer b/c, with apt-get ( or the non Debian/Ubuntu distros equivalent), I can grab libs on the fly in no time plug them in and start testing/building, the source is always there for me to run gdb on, I have an amazing list of cli utils (in coreutils, binutils & co), also having complete control over my os and tab switching through 5 terminals all running my nifty lil' tasks just makes me happy :) Also emacs keyboard shortcuts (which work just about everywhere on linux) allow me to fly on just about any task, who wants to traverse the keyboard and hit 'END' to go to endline?

Re: Ask HN: What's your favorite OS and why?

#2

Post by jamesjguthrie » Fri, Aug 17, 2012, 9:01 PM UTC

Favourite OS has to be Windows 7 x64. I run OS X ML in VM for Xcode etc and I have given Ubuntu tons of chances over the last 7 years; I just always come back to Windows.

Windows has all the applications I want - my CAD software and suspension geometry software for Uni; I prefer the layout and look of the OS over Mac and Ubuntu; every single piece of hardware I ever buy already has fully functional drivers built; there's tons of reasons why I prefer Windows over everything else.

Another big reason is that having to use the command line for simple tasks in Ubuntu is an absolute pain in the arse. I'm perfectly comfortable with using any CLI, I just feel I shouldn't have to be inconvenienced by having to use one to do something like install a new package or an update.

Re: Ask HN: What's your favorite OS and why?

#3

Post by jfaucett » Fri, Aug 17, 2012, 9:22 PM UTC

jamesjguthrie wrote: post #2

Favourite OS has to be Windows 7 x64. I run OS X ML in VM for Xcode etc and I have given Ubuntu tons of chances over the last 7 years; I just always come back to Windows. Windows has all the applications I want - my CAD software and suspension geometry software for Uni; I prefer the layout and look of the OS over Mac and Ubuntu; every single piece of hardware I ever buy already has fully functional drivers built; the…

Good points. Looks like windows might have the upper hand for your field. Its kinda funny the thing you mention with the package updates, yum(or apt-get) install is actually one of my favorite features on a linux box :)

Re: Ask HN: What's your favorite OS and why?

#4

Post by khyryk » Fri, Aug 17, 2012, 9:47 PM UTC

Most of my time has been spent in Windows 7, although I've always dabbled in Ubuntu. Recently, inexplicable errors, winrot, etc. are pushing me to use Ubuntu more often.

In my experience, technical Windows forums hardly ever manage to fix tough problems, although, to be fair, I've never yet experienced any such problems on Ubuntu.

Re: Ask HN: What's your favorite OS and why?

#5

Post by gjulianm » Fri, Aug 17, 2012, 10:16 PM UTC

For me, OS X. Great design, speed, stability... It has all the apps I need, it's great for development and under the hood is still a Unix machine with a lot of CLI utils.

But I really like Windows 7 and Ubuntu too. It's just that I like OS X more.

Re: Ask HN: What's your favorite OS and why?

#6

Post by jfaucett » Fri, Aug 17, 2012, 10:24 PM UTC

gjulianm wrote: post #5

For me, OS X. Great design, speed, stability... It has all the apps I need, it's great for development and under the hood is still a Unix machine with a lot of CLI utils. But I really like Windows 7 and Ubuntu too. It's just that I like OS X more.

what trumps the other two os's then? Any specific favorite's like Textmate or Objective-C that make you prefer it?

Re: Ask HN: What's your favorite OS and why?

#7

Post by gjulianm » Fri, Aug 17, 2012, 10:29 PM UTC

jfaucett wrote: post #6

gjulianm wrote: post #5

For me, OS X. Great design, speed, stability... It has all the apps I need, it's great for development and under the hood is still a Unix machine with a lot of CLI utils. But I really like Windows 7 and Ubuntu too. It's just that I like OS X more.

what trumps the other two os's then? Any specific favorite's like Textmate or Objective-C that make you prefer it?

Stability and design mainly. I like to see that all the interfaces are consistent and pleasing to the eye. And well, I think the Magic Trackpad + BetterTouchTool (I have a Macbook) does a lot for OSX.

Re: Ask HN: What's your favorite OS and why?

#8

Post by goshakkk » Fri, Aug 17, 2012, 10:32 PM UTC

Basically, I just need my OS to be a unix. On the desktop I also want to have great UI/UX (font rendering is part of it. Can't stand for weird font rendering on Windows, things are better on Ubuntu though.) So OS X is my choice.

I also like such aspects of it as support of multitouch trackpad gestures, Recovery HD, hard drive encryption out of the box, nice backup solution built-in, awesome application ecosystem.

Re: Ask HN: What's your favorite OS and why?

#9

Post by anujkk » Sat, Aug 18, 2012, 5:36 AM UTC

Linux. I was a Windows guy but from last two years I'm using Ubuntu. I don't have any driver issues and everything works quite well. In fact, it works better than Windows 7 for me. I'm primarily a developer and it is well known that Linux is best for that purpose. I am also a part time designer and GIMP/InkScape works well for most of my needs.

I still have Windows 7 installed, but I only use it(occasionally) if I need to work on things like .net, photoshop, illustrator etc.

Re: Ask HN: What's your favorite OS and why?

#10

Post by anujkk » Sat, Aug 18, 2012, 5:41 AM UTC

jamesjguthrie wrote: post #2

Favourite OS has to be Windows 7 x64. I run OS X ML in VM for Xcode etc and I have given Ubuntu tons of chances over the last 7 years; I just always come back to Windows. Windows has all the applications I want - my CAD software and suspension geometry software for Uni; I prefer the layout and look of the OS over Mac and Ubuntu; every single piece of hardware I ever buy already has fully functional drivers built; the…

It might be a case of preference but I particular like using the "apt-get" to install new packages or updates. However, in Ubuntu, if you don't want to use CLI, there are GUI options available - Ubuntu Software Center and Update Manager.