I use arch btw.

Gives me the flexibility to do what I want and contrary to the internet I haven't managed to break everything. I managed to break Ubuntu through

"arch linux" with EndeavourOs. Simple to set up, light weight, they seem to have good opinions on package choices. What I like about arch is that if something breaks, I know how to fix it since everything is so configurable and modular. If something breaks in Windows/Ubuntu I don't know how to fix it and the os/distro isn't designed to let you solve the issue yourself.

Right now, macOS. Switched to it when I started uni and I'm never going back to Windows. The main reasons are:

• unix based
• generally easier to manage software
• the OS itself has most of the basic utilities already packed in and most of them with the right features. I rarely felt the need to install new software to cover lacking parts.

Also, generally stuff is packed fairly well, with care for user experience.

I will say, I'm dipping my feets in linux as well, and it looks like a lot of distro now are mature and accessible. If I ever were to buy a second pc I would seriously consider the penguin.

Debian Linux. Because it just works.

Runner-up: Mac OS. Same reason as above, but not free, so it’s #2.

Second-runner up: Free DOS because why not?

Distant last place: Windows, cause occasionally you need to call in your retarded cousin who is the only one that can do that one thing just right.

plan 9

I don't actually have the patience to run it, mind you. But it's definitely my favorite in principle.

Windows. Because I can run WSL alongside the industry standard business tools such as Outlook etc.

It’s the best of both worlds for me.

I would miss Manjaro if it went away. I like how it (cliche alert) "just works".

Qubes OS

The virtual machine workflow has made me completely rethink how I use computers, and there's huge security benefits of compartmentalizing your digital life through Qubes. Qubes OS successfully compartmentalizes your VMs and brings them together under one unified desktop, so even though you have several VMs running, you can see all of them at once because you see their windows as if it was a regular Linux desktop.

There are some issues with it though, such as lack of 3D acceleration for gaming, and its rather picky hardware support. Along with needing hardware that supports Linux drivers, you need a crap ton of RAM (I'm running 20 GBs on my Thinkpad T450s) for all of the VMs you run at one time. It doesn't take as much CPU power as you'd think, though, as it uses Xen's PVH emulation, instead of full-blown virtual machines like you'd see with VirtualBox.

However, if you have the right hardware for it, and you don't mind dual-booting or using another machine for gaming, I urge you to give it a whirl.

Arch Linux all the way. I love the AUR, the Arch wiki (though it applies to a lot of distros) and customizable it is.

I’ve had a Mac for a few years, but the Linux « itch » came back and I couldn’t scratch it with macOS.

Now I see just how snappier Linux is compared to Windows or macOS on the same hardware and I really don’t wanna go back.

I'm glad you asked. How much time do you have?

I'm mainly privacy and security focused when it comes to software. My first Linux distro was Whonix. It's like if Tor expanded from the browser into an OS. Its a bit clunky and outdated though, so not a great daily driver. My second and current distro was the KDE spin of Fedora. It's been amazing top to bottom. Unfortunately Red Hat recently started some drama, but Fedora shouldn't be impacted as its upstream. If Red Hat's greasy paws do mess things up, I'm thinking about running OpenSUSE Tumbleweed. Hopefully it's just me over thinking and Fedora will remain a stellar OS option for years to come.

Arch, because the documentation and support is really good. And it 'just works.'

When it comes down to it, the only difference between distros is basically just the package manager right?

My favorite OS is Gentoo Linux.

The main reason being that you have full control of the system, from the kernel, init (OpenRC or SystemD), to the different packages.

I've also found Gentoo to be very reliable. (I've had some bad experiences with distros like Void with KDE Plasma freezing/crashing).

It's a rolling release distro, but with more stable package versions, unlike ArchLinux. However it also gives you the option to use the lastest packages (By adding them to accept_keywords)

And if you want you can experiment with different setups, for example using musl instead of GNU's GLIBC, or using clang as the default compiler instead of GCC.

Fedora for its stability. Arch for its customisability.

Nobody in here talking about BeOS, QDos, Geos (like windows for the C64!), AIX, or OS2 Warp? For shame!

QNX fucking rocked, I wish it had been useable as a day-to-day system. If I had to pick one it would be that sighs wistfully

Will I get jumped if I say MacOS?

I'm just kidding, but I do like MacOS. I just find it more aesthetically pleasing than Windows and I find it easier to use and longer lasting than Windows. Like, I had to use my 2014 MacBook Air with 4GB of RAM for a week because I needed to repair my main Mac. Yes, it was slow, I couldn't have too many apps running at the same time, and I couldn't have my customary 20 tabs open, but it was certainly usable and not too frustrating.

Server: Freebsd: simple, reliable

Desktop: Linux: Pop os distro

Ubuntu compatibility without any canonical garbage

Works and works well

Out of the box ready for most use cases

Competent engineers and support

Arch Linux

So that I can brag about using Arch Linux.

Seriously though, I wanted to learn about Linux and chose trial-by-fire. I've used other (Debian based) distros but pacman + the Arch user repository are hard to live without now.

Though if I ever had to reinstall I'd probably save myself some headache and install EndeavorOS.

Between Linux Mint for its reliability and ease of use and Gentoo for just being really nice to use overall with a ton of the control linux is well known for.

RISC OS. It's quite unique, and the UI design is great. Want to save a file? Drag this icon where you want to save it. Access the menu? Middle button, oh and it's all context sensitive, directly under the pointer. Applications are just directories - there are no hidden files.

Fedora and Debian. It just works, can't complain. Need to use windows 11 on a notebook, absolutely hate it.

My favorite was Linux, but I got really into producing music and fl studio and all of my vsts don't run in Linux afaik. I'm just not willing to throw away the money I've spent and try and find open source alternatives

macOS for personal use, Rocky Linux or Ubuntu for my servers

I've been using Kali for a while now, after only using Windows and Ubuntu for ages. It's surprisingly refreshing!

I use Debian 12. I very recently switched to it from windows after using windows for about 10 years or more.

What do I like about Debian when compared to Windows?

I really enjoy using the terminal. Still a beginner. Yes learning the commands is tough but sometimes I just prefer using the terminal instead of using a gui.

Everything else about debian is also great.

I don't have a favorite. Every OS has its pros and cons, so it's "right to for the right job" situation for me.

I run Windows 10/11 on my desktops because some piece of software requires it (trust me, I've looked at alternatives.) unRAID on one server, and Ubuntu on a couple of other servers. They all have quirks that I absolutely hate, but there's no such thing as perfect operating system.

What? No love for ElementaryOS? It runs really well on my Pinebook Pro.