OS Poll

[Newt]

A thread was started a bit ago asking which operating system people used, and it was mentioned several times that a poll would be interesting to see. This is that poll.

I personally have a dual boot laptop with Windows Vista Buisness and openSuse (a linux distro).

[Slam_Jones]

Win7 64-bit

[LordFerret]

I have several machines with different OS's (Win, Linux, OSX). The one I play KSP on though is Win8.1 ... it's the only thing I have on this laptop aside from Gimp.

[pxi]

Win 7 & 8 on my desktop and current laptop respectively.

Multiple versions of Linux - Slackware, Debian & Ubuntu mainly - across various servers, VM's and my old netbook.

Android on the phone.

[gooddog15]

Computer: Win 7 64bit

Phone: IOS

Tablet: Android (not functional, tablet originally manufactured in 2006, with Honeycomb. Barely has any ram.)

Edited February 2, 2015 by gooddog15

[Kryten]

Windows desktop, android phone and tablet.

[Nuke]

i use windows for almost everything. i have a couple linux boxes as well, but i use them rarely. but i also like to mess around with obscure operating systems, things like baremetalos and reactos.

[regex]

Android tablet, Android phone, Windows box, Linux laptop (Kubuntu, although I'm an old Slack/LFS user). I have access to an OS X laptop, an iPad, and an iPhone at work, but I don't count them because Apple makes crappy interfaces and I don't own them.

[steve_v]

Gaming / testing / dev box: Multiboot Debian GNU/Linux / FreeBSD / Solaris (OpenIndiana) / Windows 7

Home server: Debian GNU/Linux

Laptop: Multiboot Debian GNU/Linux / Windows XP / FreeDOS

Workstation: Debian GNU/Linux

Smartphone: Android - but doesn't really count as it barely qualifies as 'smart'

Solaris & FreeBSD installed as test environment for a couple of machines I occasionally have to muck with at work, so not often booted.

Edited February 2, 2015 by steve_v

[Camacha]

Are we trying to start a war, with all the what OS and what brand computer/GPU/whatever?

[steve_v]

Sounds like fun

No properly rabid fanbois have appeared from the woodwork yet though

[Newt]

Are we trying to start a war, with all the what OS and what brand computer/GPU/whatever?

I was just starting to notice that myself. Many times it seems like the topics pass in and out with a bunch of threads on a similar theme (a few weeks ago it was who will land on Mars first, who will land on the Moon next, et cetera). I do not think we are starting a war, just being geeks talking about geeky computer things.

If I wanted a war here, I could have titled a thread something like 'Why does Windows Really Suck, and Who Here is Still Wasting Their Time with It?'.

[steve_v]

'Why does Windows Really Suck, and Who Here is Still Wasting Their Time with It?'.

Having spent almost all day sorting out a particularly munted & virus infested WinXP install, and getting a bunch of important data off of it... then fighting some truly wierd and wonderfull hardware that only likes certain USB ports... "universal" serial bus my ass... grumble grumble... I do on occasion agree with that sentiment.

But all this desn't sound much like war drums to me, more innocent curiosity.

[KerBlam]

Ok I'll start it then

[steve_v]

You do realise that 'PC' is a hardware platform not an operating system, right?

Nevertheless, LOL.

[KerBlam]

Mac isn't an operating system, Linux either (it was, but now its is the Kernel of a distribution Operating system i.e. gentoo or ubuntu). They're just generic terms that people are familiar with.

[steve_v]

True, but 'Mac' is a contraction of Mac OS, and 'Linux' of GNU/Linux, whereas 'PC' is for Personal Computer (or specifically "IBM-PC compatible") and bears no resemblance to Microsoft Windows at all.

Predictable bad car analogy: Chevrolet is 'chevy' but Ford is 'road'? it makes no sense.

Gentoo or ubuntu are distributions, not seperate OS': all the same core software, kernel & toolchain in a slightly different box ~= same OS. IMO an OS is best defined by it's 'bones' i.e. the kernel & the compiler. But now I'm just being pedantic

Edited February 2, 2015 by steve_v

[KerBlam]

Bloody nerds. Everyone knows what you mean when you say Mac/PC. It's been that way for years. They even label software using those terms.

/me waits for the buttsore apple fanatic to get jumpy. There's always at least one.

edit: No, I'm sorry, I'll be nice.. it's not your fault if you're a victim of pro marketing. It's your money, you can waste it however you like.

Edited February 2, 2015 by KerBlam

[Camacha]

WinXP install

There's yer problem. XP support ended almost a year ago and no sensible human should still be using it. The OS has served its purpose, let it rest in peace.

[KerBlam]

I've heard 8.1 isn't bad, performance wise.. Can't speak from experience though.

[steve_v]

There's yer problem. XP support ended almost a year ago and no sensible human should still be using it. The OS has served its purpose, let it rest in peace.

Yeah, I swear my job title should include 'archaeologist' somewhere...

Seriously, I was playing with 5.25" floppy disks just the other day, it hurts waiting for those things to spin 'round to the right track.

In this particular case, we have custom software that won't run on anything post XP, or with more than 1GB of ram for that matter... the only workable stopgap solution is to clean it up and virtualize it until the original developers can be roped in or someone (NOT me) is contracted to re-write it.

While a clean install would be nice, even if it is still XP, the licenses and install media were lost long ago...

Bloody nerds. Everyone knows what you mean when you say Mac/PC. It's been that way for years.

Which is why, when someone tells me they have a "PC" I always ask what OS it runs, and when it's just "a computer" I invariably ask "oh, what kind". This is primarily because I enjoy confusing people

I will not have my acronyms twisted so, dammit.

The Mac/PC split is understandable, since they were actually incompatible hardware architectures back in the PowerPC days. Still, nothing to do with the OS. Try Mac/Wintel.

A modern Mac is a PC.

Edited February 2, 2015 by steve_v

[Canopus]

I am currently using a Macbook pro but i'm trying to build a decent gaming Pc that will boot OS X and some version of Windows. I have used a Laptop with Windows 8 and i wasn't very impressed so i still have to decide if i try a newer version or if i just use Windows 7.

Edited February 2, 2015 by Canopus

[KerBlam]

A modern Mac is a PC.

McComputers....

I used to be a great advocate for Mac, in fact I still have a g4 powerbook which I use very rarely.

When they decided to drop the logic boards and go to Intel chips, they lost my respect completely. You can build a better, faster machine at home for a third of the price point, and stick OSX on it (if you want to severely limit yourself to buying proprietary software)..

They're made for those who like to sip their cafe lattes and say 'yah, I bought a macbook PRO because I'm like, a pro casual graphic designer in my spare time and you know, like, they're better and you can't get viruses.... plus you know, gestures?'

[Red Iron Crown]

My main PC, server, and my laptop are Windows, my HTPC is Linux, my wife's laptop is OS X, and we have Android tablets, phones and a STB.

Use ALL the OSes!

[Thomas988]

The computer my family has (which I pretty much use 99% of the time) is Windows 8 64 bit. I love it! It's fast, clean, and only freezes about once or twice a year.