Thread: Which Operating System do you use at home?

Indicate your OS!
Are you happy with your choice, or planning to change?

Operating System

Thanks!
I work in IT, so I normally just say "OS".

The only reasons I use Windows XP and cannot switch full time to Ubuntu are:

Skype client for Windows is a lot better than the Skype client for Ubuntu.

Pokerstars plays in Wine (just loaded Ubuntu 10.04 and have not tried it yet) but not full screen.

Other than that I use Ubuntu.

Scott

I use Linux, Ubuntu 10.04
I think, this system is more userfriendly, than Windows. And this system is free. I mustn't to pay.
So, i have Windows too. (Legal copy,of course. I swear! )

Skype client for Windows is a lot better than the Skype client for Ubuntu.

I don't think so. This advertising... It makes me cry
And Skype for Linux can all. Call, use web-camera and chat. I needn't more. (And i heedn't advertising )

Pokerstars plays in Wine (just loaded Ubuntu 10.04 and have not tried it yet) but not full screen.

You can use VirtualBox. Just install VBox, and install Windows in VBox. And you will mustn't reboot your PC. VBox can be in full screen mode.

I'm lost. I'm using all of them except Mac OS.
I've 2 comps, one on Ubuntu and Windows XP running on VirtualPC, the second runs on Windows 7 and several OSs on VMware: MS-DOS 6.22+Windows for Workgroups (don't ask why ), Xubuntu, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP SP3 (separately for testing), and Windows Vista Home, also I'm maintaining an image of OS/2 Warp.
Also I've a DOSBox for running old games (I was unable to make decent SB emulation on MS-DOS ).
Also I've an empty virtual machine for different Linux distributions.

I use Win7 (legally, licensed by MSDNAA ) as main OS.
Also installed Ubuntu, for testing cross-platform application & simply for soul (я правильно выразил русское словосочетание "просто для души"?)

Originally Posted by Ramil

I'm lost. I'm using all of them except Mac OS.
I've 2 comps, one on Ubuntu and Windows XP running on VirtualPC, the second runs on Windows 7 and several OSs on VMware: MS-DOS 6.22+Windows for Workgroups (don't ask why ), Xubuntu, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP SP3 (separately for testing), and Windows Vista Home, also I'm maintaining an image of OS/2 Warp.
Also I've a DOSBox for running old games (I was unable to make decent SB emulation on MS-DOS ).
Also I've an empty virtual machine for different Linux distributions.

OS/2 Wow! I used to run that and loved it.

Originally Posted by fortheether

Originally Posted by Ramil

I'm lost. I'm using all of them except Mac OS.
I've 2 comps, one on Ubuntu and Windows XP running on VirtualPC, the second runs on Windows 7 and several OSs on VMware: MS-DOS 6.22+Windows for Workgroups (don't ask why ), Xubuntu, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP SP3 (separately for testing), and Windows Vista Home, also I'm maintaining an image of OS/2 Warp.
Also I've a DOSBox for running old games (I was unable to make decent SB emulation on MS-DOS ).
Also I've an empty virtual machine for different Linux distributions.

OS/2 Wow! I used to run that and loved it.

I don't really need it, but deleting it would be like betraying an old friend. It was a shame IBM had abandoned it. It looked very promising. Well it was re-incarnated in NT 3.51 (or at least some of its parts).

Originally Posted by Ramil

Originally Posted by fortheether

Originally Posted by Ramil

I'm lost. I'm using all of them except Mac OS.
I've 2 comps, one on Ubuntu and Windows XP running on VirtualPC, the second runs on Windows 7 and several OSs on VMware: MS-DOS 6.22+Windows for Workgroups (don't ask why ), Xubuntu, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP SP3 (separately for testing), and Windows Vista Home, also I'm maintaining an image of OS/2 Warp.
Also I've a DOSBox for running old games (I was unable to make decent SB emulation on MS-DOS ).
Also I've an empty virtual machine for different Linux distributions.

OS/2 Wow! I used to run that and loved it.

I don't really need it, but deleting it would be like betraying an old friend. It was a shame IBM had abandoned it. It looked very promising. Well it was re-incarnated in NT 3.51 (or at least some of its parts).

I read rumors lately that IBM may bring OS/2 back. I hope they are not rumors.

Gentoo Linux at work, almost legal copy (licensed for my organization) XP, illegal Mac OS on hackintosh, Gentoo Linux at home...

Very interesting to see how many Linuxes are here. I am using Xubuntu 10.04 at home on my desktop, Ubuntu 9.04 on my notebook (no need to change a running system) and still have a legal install of XP in the notebook which I need once a year for my tax declaration. I've been working in IT for 20 years, and that has taught me not to trust Windows farther than I can throw it. Except when it comes to causing trouble of course. You can't beat it at that.

At work I have also converted as much of my work as possible to Linux, so I am using Ubuntu 10.04 there, with XP in a VirtualBox environment for the Windows-based programs I still have to use there. And I have already switched two colleagues to the same setup.

Reading the replies here I have to wonder whether the market share of Linux is really still anywhere as low as they always say in the news...

Robin

I am not very good with Linux and I don't use it at home for that reason. But I PRINCIPLE I'd prefer to use it over Window$...

My first computer was a Mac though.

Some day I may ditch Windows for good and start using some nice Linux distribution. In the meantime I am using Windows 7, courtesy of Pirate Bay.

Re: Everyone using Linux... We'll I guess that's settled then, we're all a bunch of geeks on this forum!

To the users of Windows XP: Windows 7 is much prettier!!

To the users of Vista: Windows 7 is faster and a bit nicer.

When have you last used Linux? It is much easier to use these days than Windows. And I'm saying that after having set up four computers last week: a notebook with Win XP, and three hardware-wise identical desktops with Win XP, Win 7, and Ubuntu with a Virtual Box with XP inside. Only Ubuntu was fast and hassle-free to set up, though I confess that Win 7 was almost as fast by itself, it's just the huge amount of applications it does not include...

I can agree that Win 7 is a step forward compared to XP, while Vista was a leap back. But it is still light years behind Linux with no hope of catching up.

Robin

Originally Posted by bitpicker

When have you last used Linux? It is much easier to use these days than Windows. And I'm saying that after having set up four computers last week: a notebook with Win XP, and three hardware-wise identical desktops with Win XP, Win 7, and Ubuntu with a Virtual Box with XP inside. Only Ubuntu was fast and hassle-free to set up, though I confess that Win 7 was almost as fast by itself, it's just the huge amount of applications it does not include...

I can agree that Win 7 is a step forward compared to XP, while Vista was a leap back. But it is still light years behind Linux with no hope of catching up.

Robin

Oh, I see there's a holywar brewing up.

I 'use' two Linuxes - Ubuntu and Xubuntu and test some other distributions from time to time. Ubuntu 10 was the first Linux distribution I saw that was at least close to Windows in terms of usability. Before that the hardware support was poor and GUI unattractive. The problem with Linux is that it won't work immediately 'out of the box'. There's always some things that require configuration (or re-configuration). You should be careful when selecting hardware for your system and specifically check if there are drivers for it, will they work on your distribution, etc. When an average user faces all that he/she installs Windows and forgets about Linux. To sum it all up - Linux has no future in the desktop PC sector. Linux users comprise 1-2% of their overall number and I doubt this will change in the nearest future.
Also, as a programmer, I should confess that I've never had so powerful and convenient a tool as MS Visual Studio IDE. No Linux-based IDEs can be compared to it.
The only place where Linux could beat Windows is server segment, but then again, there is FreeBSD (it's not Linux, for those who doesn't know that), also IBM and Sun.

P.S. OS is a platform where your software will work, not a program cache for every possible purpose. OS should control the hardware, perform resource management, provide protection and means for launching applications. That's about all an OS 'must have' everything else is optional. If a user wants he/she will always install additional applications (and yes, there are MANY freeware programs for MS Windows, probably more than there are for Linux).

Originally Posted by Ramil

The problem with Linux is that it won't work immediately 'out of the box'. There's always some things that require configuration (or re-configuration). You should be careful when selecting hardware for your system and specifically check if there are drivers for it, will they work on your distribution, etc. When an average user faces all that he/she installs Windows and forgets about Linux.

My experience is exactly opposite. Install a modern Windows and lose compatibility with old hardware for good. Plug in a printer and you need a third party driver because Windows doesn't react (sometimes; I know it recognizes many more pieces of hardware today than it used to). I have to use three different ways of configuring our various office printers with Windows, which sometimes work this way and sometimes that way for no apparent reason, whereas I simply point Linux at them and print. Windows frequently develops strange behaviour in our network, forgetting about shares, forgetting about users, finding the domain, not finding the domain, etc.

Linux only fails to work out of the box where proprietary drivers are necessary or where you happen to have unsupported hardware, which I only encounter very rarely. I can see how an average user might be stumped when a notebook needs a proprietary driver for example for a Broadcom WLAN chip which it can only get via the internet, so it needs to be connected by cable at first to properly install the driver. But I think that average users are always stumped when installing any operating system. No actual average user ever had to install Windows, you buy it with the computer and then ask your resident geek to set it up again when it breaks if you're an average user. Remember how you had to press F6 during the very first stages of a Win XP install to install SATA drivers from a floppy you never had years after such drives had become commonplace? And worse: computers no longer even had floppy drives? That's a Catch 22 situation which can really stump anyone...

If Linux came preinstalled no average user would have any problem. In fact, a whole lot of average and even substandard users around me have received computers with preinstalled Linux from me, and for those of them I switched from Windows it has greatly reduced the need for support by me. Those who never used Windows before they got Linux had it even easier because they never had to unlearn Windows modes of operation.

But as always YMMV. I'm too old for flame wars.

Robin

Originally Posted by bitpicker

But as always YMMV. I'm too old for flame wars.

So am I. Besides I used to be one of those 'local geeks'. Fortunately, I simply started to ask money for support one day and all requests miraculously stopped. What concerns me personally I'd rather use Windows 7 than anything else. It appears MS has finally gotten around into making something good. I still use Linux for my home server though.

Okay, so we all know that I am the technically challenged one here. Years ago, and I do mean years ago, I used to understand all this stuff. I'm talking long before when things ran before there was such a thing as Windows... the good old days of DOS and CPM. Now days, I am lost. I have never seen Linux and never even heard of a Virtual Box or Ubuntu... I feel old...

Pokerstars plays in Win

I have a certain professional insight into this, and I'd say that unless you are a VERY good poker player, do not play poker online! PokerStars is particularly devious at finding new and clever ways of parting you from your money. I work with some people who used to work there and I have heard all about their unscrupulous methods which are notiorious... Btw, I believe the owners are Russian-Israelis.

The thing is Robin, I know Windows inside out, from my days as a programmer. I feel in total control and there is nothing I can't do. But on Linux I would be a real noob!

If something went wrong I wouldn't know how to quickly fix it. But you are right, I haven't used it for five years or so.

I love pretty GUIs... what's the best looking Linux available? Can I make it super pretty and customise everything? I use Stardock on my Windows 7 and it looks great.