Which OS are you running and why?

[g00se]

I was thinking of looking up Linux...can I play that on Virtual PC?

Sure that is a stupid question.

Not highly into phones yet but im still interested.

If you use ubuntu install cd, you can run off the cd to see what it's like - though it'll be very slow. You can also install it 'within' windows or install it so that the pc dual boots.

 

[Bird Brain]

What would be best for running dos progs?

Obv Win 7 is no good for this.I tried virtual pc and win xp but my laptop doesn't pack much of a punch.

 

[2Loose]

Win 7 with XP and Ubuntu virtual machines on one and Ubuntu with an XP vm on the other.
(and Android on phone, but I don't think that counts really).

Bird Brain, I have had good results running some DOS stuff in Win7 using compatibility mode (Win 95 mode)...

 

[Bird Brain]

Win 7 with XP and Ubuntu virtual machines on one and Ubuntu with an XP vm on the other.
(and Android on phone, but I don't think that counts really).

Bird Brain, I have had good results running some DOS stuff in Win7 using compatibility mode (Win 95 mode)...

Didn't work.Plus I have been looking at macbooks but if im going to or want to cart one half way round the world I don't want a big screen.I have a Lenovo S9e and a Dell Inspiron Mini 900 which I use to watch films/Use as a test machine for operating systems.

 

[dodgy]

Whenever this question is asked, you'll see a disproportionate number of responses from non Windows users (the information on market spread is out there, the vast majority of users use Windows), for some reason they are more enthusiastic about their OS of choice and love the opportunity to look down upon the Windows users. You might see Windows spelt as 'windoze' for instance, this is humour

Anyway, I use Windows 7 at home because I can play games on it and run MS office which I prefer to the free versions (I get office on the MS Home User Program, about £17).
At work I use Windows XP for the office bound stuff and Linux (Backtrack) for the security stuff I get involved in.

I get on fine with Windows 7, as I did with Vista - I never had any problems with Vista at all, though it became very fashionable to slate it. Even my family who are not IT literate in any way would slate Vista when they were running XP

 

[accountantpete]

XP which is ideal for my basic requirements - if it ain't broke don't fix it is my motto.

 

[MontyVeda]

I agree with Pete... I'm still on XP at home. At work I have a laptop with Vista on and a PC with win7 on.

I'm loving windows 7 but am reluctant to upgrade at home due to the fear that some of my software may not work with it.

...at the end of the day... it's not about the OS but the software I run on it.

 

[2Loose]

Whenever this question is asked, you'll see a disproportionate number of responses from non Windows users (the information on market spread is out there, the vast majority of users use Windows), for some reason they are more enthusiastic about their OS of choice and love the opportunity to look down upon the Windows users.

I once had this explained to me by a Mac user. Non-windows users enthuse about theirs, Windows users learn to put up with theirs. (Was a long time ago before even XP though, things are a obviously lot better since then.)

The disproportionate response is people shouting 'there is an alternative to what the sales bloke sold you, you may even like it'.

I couldn't be without Windows for work and (especially) games, but prefer that penguin OS for the other 50% of what I use the pc for...so I have them all!

 

[dodgy]

I think there's a good proportion of computer users who get no more excited over their computer than they do over their vacuum cleaner. It's a tool, and if it works they're happy I suppose. I wouldn't be keen on letting most of the people/family who rely on me for IT support to go to Linux, the phone would never be off the hook!

 

[Coco]

OS X on my iMac for general purpose computing. I work in computing and got fed up having to fix things when I got home. Rebuilt my previous XP computer so many times it just wasn't funny any more. The only maintenance I've had to do in the last 5 years for the Mac is occasional patching, 1 OS upgrade and replace 1 power supply. Astonishingly low maintenance.

XP on my games machine - only have games on it so it starts reasonably quickly.

Redhat on my server.

 

[vernon]

I have a copy of GEM and Windows for Workgroups installed on a laptop to remind myself how small OS installations used to be. They are blisteringly fast on modern machines and for basic functionality they take some beating.

All the rest of the computers in my household have the default OS installations including DRDOS (lurking in a darkened corner of the attic) Win 95, XP, Vista and Snow Leopard.

My computer of choice is the mini Mac

 

[Smokin Joe]

I think there's a good proportion of computer users who get no more excited over their computer than they do over their vacuum cleaner. It's a tool, and if it works they're happy I suppose. I wouldn't be keen on letting most of the people/family who rely on me for IT support to go to Linux, the phone would never be off the hook!

+1.

It works, I don't care what's under the bonnet and if Bill Gates made billions from it good luck to him.

 

[avsd]

Windows 7 - upgrade from Vista that came with the laptop as I like fiddling with PC's. XP at work. Both are fine. Tr

 

[woohoo]

98SE 'cos many of the old good games only work under it and I would face a family rebellion * if I upgraded it (can't anyway 'cos the hardware isn't up to it). XP 'cos that's what the machines came with, it works well and does the job. Win 7 on more recent PCs where I took advantage of the free upgrade from Vista (which I couldn't really get on with).

* I also like the 98SE 'cos I can get into the nuts and bolts of the underlying OS (namely DOS) without being told what I can/can't do, "permissions" and all of that other stuff that feature in the more up to date systems.

 

[vernon]

+1.

It works, I don't care what's under the bonnet and if Bill Gates made billions from it good luck to him.

Apart from the nostalgia trips that I indulge in with GEM and Windows 3, the default installations of operating systems are left unmolested as they do their jobs perfectly. If they ain't broke I don't try to fix them. They've never been broken and I've had no need to tinker.