What is your preferred computer operating system?

What is your preferred computer operating system?

  • macOS

    Votes: 39 14.7%
  • Microsoft Windows

    Votes: 172 64.9%
  • Linux

    Votes: 52 19.6%
  • Other

    Votes: 2 0.8%

  • Total voters
    265
I do not allow Windows devices on my home network. All our computers run Linux. First thing that happens when a new computer enters our home is a removal of the Windows Virus and installing Linux. Latest Ubuntu LTS with Pro attached.
 
Windows 10 for personal use, but Linux for anything personally professional.

Then HP-UX at a short distance behind purely because I was forced and then got used to using it at my previous job.
 
I do not allow Windows devices on my home network. All our computers run Linux. First thing that happens when a new computer enters our home is a removal of the Windows Virus and installing Linux. Latest Ubuntu LTS with Pro attached.
Been many years. But I remember an online legend of either Stallman or Eric Raymond standing in a robe at the door of a install fest casting out the proprietary demons of the computers people where bringing to the install fest.

Way early days, I was still rocking Slackware back then.

TIL: After a google to try and find it installfest's are still a thing.

Edit: Am the same, only MacOS or linux is allowed in my house. My kids opted for Mac, pricey but I am not windows tech support so worth it in the long run.
 
For my PC -> windoze
For servers -> the penguin
Came here to say the question isn't specific enough. Does the OP maybe mean "personal computer"?

PC: W11
Server: Ubuntu

Will vote if the question is corrected or multiple answers are allowed.
 
"preferred" is a strong word
mostly use windows for no other reason than the few PC games I play regularly

besides that everything's browser based and the OS makes very little difference, survived many years on MacOS, played around with Linux, it's all good, except for the games
 
Been running Linux Mint at home for a long time on several devices. I added a second nvme with windows on my gaming PC but I only use it when games refuse to work on my Linux boot.
 
Trying out MacOS after using Windows my entire life (Win 98 was the first)

Swopped because I got tired of having to rely on WSL.

Been painful so far.
I use Win + WSL, although I was also getting somewhat annoyed at some of the limitations of WSL (e.g., no perf counters). At work I use Windows + WSL to connect to a powerful remote server. I decided to mirror the config at home a bit, which has worked out ok. I just bought a little AMD NUC. 8 cores, AVX512, 64GB RAM, 1TB m.2, and run things remotely on that when I need to. Cost about $500.
 
Or perhaps some of us support 100+ windows desktops + combination of *nix servers and from experience have the least problems with Linux desktops and servers.

Ie. I use Ubuntu LTS on both work & home desktops + Federa on laptop for last 5+ years. Even game a little on my home pc (7days to die works perfectly under proton)
 
Screenshot_2025-05-27_18-42-08.png

Although to be serious, after my microcomputing days I went through numerous iterations of DOS and Windows but after I started experimenting with Slackware in the late 90s, I used Windows less and less and by the time Ubuntu was released I pretty much swapped over and nowadays run Debian on both work and home machines.

I don't give modern Windows much thought anymore as I don't have a need for it, but still run older versions in VMs for some software I still use.

So TL;DR.. Linux as a primary OS for everything.
 
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I use Win + WSL, although I was also getting somewhat annoyed at some of the limitations of WSL (e.g., no perf counters). At work I use Windows + WSL to connect to a powerful remote server. I decided to mirror the config at home a bit, which has worked out ok. I just bought a little AMD NUC. 8 cores, AVX512, 64GB RAM, 1TB m.2, and run things remotely on that when I need to. Cost about $500.
There's an issue for it: https://github.com/microsoft/WSL/issues/8480
Note that you can get it to run, it's just not that accurate.

Wish I could swap my work laptop to Linux, but doubt that's going to happen any time soon, plus you'll usually take a knock on battery life (though it lives plugged in most of its life).
 
Windows 10 for personal use, but Linux for anything personally professional.

Then HP-UX at a short distance behind purely because I was forced and then got used to using it at my previous job.

Why do Telco’s love HP-UX so much?
 
Anything but Windows.

Having said that, I use Windows because that is what the laptop came with (and there aren't really any other choices), but I hate Bill Gates and Microsoft.

If a OS competitor came along tomorrow that could seamlessly and smoothly run all the programs I do on my current laptop, I would take it. And it would have to cater to the cavemen like me who know their way around an OS but need .exe's to install anything. Nothing too technical.

Seems Windows' monopoly is set to continue though.
 
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