Which Operating System Do You Use? And Why?

Microsoft Windows XP: for gaming (warcraft and call of duty) and surfing the web...

Linux Mint: on netbook... it's so elegant and easy to use, i highly recommend it for Windows Users who just started with Linux or want to have a peek into Linux world... i've tried a few other distributions - openSuse, Ubuntu, Fedora. I find Linux Mint to be the easiest to install and use, it comes with most of codecs already installed and available for use. So no need to install flash, rar, or video and audio codecs!

https://linuxmint.com/

I use Windows 7 at home, Windows XP at workI used to use Linux a lot, but Today, I almost don't need, as my job doesn't require it anymore, I used to use Linux Gentoo, after that I moved to OpenSUSE, but now I only have OpenSUSE installed through a virtual machine, whenever I need to test something how it works on Linux, permissions and browsers and etc. It's a pity, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of time anymore to have fun with Linux for me ;[

i have tried openSUSE, its elegant but abit too resource hungry for my netbook

just installed Xubuntu 11.10 and i tell ya, it's pretty slick and elegant although it doesn't have as much variety of the extra eyecandy stuff that comes with Gnome Ubuntu, it's still a pretty good OS... especially for low spec devices like my netbook

here's a screen shot:
http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

I am using windows 7 for most of my work because I am comofortable using it. And I can troubleshoot most of the problems occurring. Another reason is that most of the applications and tools I use, work well on this operating system. I also use Ubuntu LInux for fun and to get into the Linux OS. I am planning to migrate to linux but first I need to familiarize myself with the environment and then make a final decision.

I use Windows 7 on all of my computers except for my server wich runs Windows Home Server 2011. I like Windows 7 because it's stable and compadible with every single thing that I need. I had Windows XP before but it didn't work with everything and it didnt support my USB headset so I changed to Windows 7. Windows Home server has all that I need for my server and more

I use Windows 7 on all of my computers except for my server wich runs Windows Home Server 2011. I like Windows 7 because it's stable and compadible with every single thing that I need. I had Windows XP before but it didn't work with everything and it didnt support my USB headset so I changed to Windows 7. Windows Home server has all that I need for my server and more

I'm still With XP Pro... no problem at all as it does all that i need... thats the great thing about Windows 7, it comes with a bigger library for plug n play devices... with XP phasing out, its a bit more hassle finding drivers for newer devices

Windows 7 is what I’m using and I’m really satisfied with it. The user interface and advance features can impress any user.

I have three machines in my house all three have different OS, one has installed Ubuntu 12.0 and second one that is in my study is with Windows 7. And the laptop that I personally used has windows 8 Pro installed.In all three, I am very happy with windows 8 Pro even it is new. Its task manager is now with some new tabs like startup, services etc. which makes me to not use masconfig to monitor startup and to disable/enable them.I can monitor my all network interfaces from task manager itself. Sevices can also we start/stop from task manager windows or their properties can be changed as well from here.

Edited February 14, 2013 by agyat (see edit history)

Ho-Ho, that could make me switch to windows8. I would love being able to stop services directly from task manager, as well as the startup features for each program.

Are there any driver issues with windows 8. Some of my friends have started using it but I am a bit reluctant because there are some complains as well. For instance, on one of my friends' computer, the Fifa 12 games keeps crashing in windows 8 while it works perfectly fine in windows 7. So maybe I will wait for a while upgrading my windows 7 to 8.And since the topic is "which OS do you use", so I have to say that I am currently using Linux Mint 14 Nadia and I am quite impressed. There are a few hiccups I have came across but it is still usable. However, in time I should learn to be able to fix issues with linux with same proficiency as I fix issues in windows 7.

the Fifa 12 games keeps crashing in windows 8 while it works perfectly fine in windows 7.

As usual with Windows things as well as with gaming things, you have to buy everything each time. The Fifa12 game is probably certified with Windows7?
You have to buy a Fifa game certified for Windows8, or ask Microsoft a list of games available for Windows 8.
Last time a game did not work on my computer, I clicked on "solve the problem", then "accept send the problem to Microsoft" and I received the answer "This software is incompatible with your version of Windows".
That's why I keep my old computers for my old games and printers, and buy new computers for the new games. And throw away my tablet and buy a new one each time a Potentially Unwanted Program destroys everything. At least that should be done in an ideal world, with an ideally huge salary (or at least significantly higher than mine). Currently I simply hope that nobody will steal my smartphone with the BlueCard number permanently registrated in order to ease buying online.

As usual with Windows things as well as with gaming things, you have to buy everything each time. The Fifa12 game is probably certified with Windows7?You have to buy a Fifa game certified for Windows8, or ask Microsoft a list of games available for Windows 8.
Last time a game did not work on my computer, I clicked on "solve the problem", then "accept send the problem to Microsoft" and I received the answer "This software is incompatible with your version of Windows".

Completely agree with that. Some people call it a monopoly to earn more money. Others say it is how the system works. Older things won't work in new environments. My personal opinion is that backward compatibility between recent versions of windows should always always be present. Like when windows 8 came out, it should have been completely backward compatible with windows 7 programs. But that's how I think, and certainly microsoft's professional don't think similarly.

That's why I keep my old computers for my old games and printers, and buy new computers for the new games. And throw away my tablet and buy a new one each time a Potentially Unwanted Program destroys everything. At least that should be done in an ideal world, with an ideally huge salary (or at least significantly higher than mine). Currently I simply hope that nobody will steal my smartphone with the BlueCard number permanently registrated in order to ease buying online.

Wow.... so ideally if you were a windows-only user, you would have a separate computer for every major windows release: 95, 98, 2000, xp, vista, 7 and now 8. You must have a huge collection of old computer lying around in your home. Good for experiments and learning though....

But everyone can't afford this. I certainly cannot. I used my previous computer (a pentium 4) for about 5+ years. I have this trend of buying one thing and then holding on to it as long as it works.

My personal opinion is that backward compatibility between recent versions of windows should always always be present. Like when windows 8 came out, it should have been completely backward compatible with windows 7 programs. But that's how I think, and certainly microsoft's professional don't think similarly.

Backward compatibility is offered by some professional environments. For instance, AIX guarantees backward compatibility, old 32bit or old 64 bit programs have to work on the new AIX releases. Of course, some features coming with the new processors will not be available, some facilities offered by new processor instructions are not present in the old programs, but they are certified being able to work without recompiling on the new operating system releases.
And, unfortunately, this is not the case in the PC world, where drivers for the old hardware are not available on the new windows versions, and even old programs are not compatible with the new operating systems.

I have this trend of buying one thing and then holding on to it as long as it works.

Same thing for me. So, my Win95 computer is not often powered on, and my winME computer is still used.