What is your preferred operating system? (PC)

[YeetJeepo]

Just a quick poll to gather data. Part of a survey for something else.

[6Foot2]

A little before leaving work, I had to replace my laptop. I opted for ChromeOS.

 

It has worked out quite well - while there are some things I miss about Windows, they aren't dealbreakers. Additionally, I recommend ChromeOS for friends and relatives who still ask for help. I find it simplifies providing support at a distance (with one notable exception, my younger brother, who is almost IMPOSSIBLE to help at times. ☹️)

[ZeroHour]

Just out of interest is this for personal use? Work use? Network wide roll out or just across the whole gambit?

[dmj]

SteamOS and Fedora at home and Ubuntu for work. Almost all of the software I need for work is macos or linux based (or it's a super PITA to get it working on windows). Most of the department have Macs though.

[Alex0x7F]

Biebian

[Norphy]

TempleOS

[enbiggen]

Debian (home).

Edited March 31, 2025 by enbiggen

[Olliedawg]

(Home use) Mostly windows, however I do also have a laptop running ubuntu.

[chazzy2501]

got steam os on my steamdeck, I want this on my desktop... I've grown to hate Windows with adverts.

[msi_school]

Preferred operating system Windows XP

 

Deployed operating system

 

At home a mix of all sorts, Windows, Mac, Chrome and  Linux.  

 

At work again a mix of Windows AD & GCPW, Chrome, Mac OS and iPad.

 

Ideally I would have a single OS at work for ease of managment however there is an argument for a number of OSs for resiliance.

[Sephiroth]

For home: preferred is Debian with Mate desktop on PCs and Debian CLI/Docker on servers, but most PCs are Windows 11 for game support, with some Server 2022 servers in my homelab for development.

 

For work: Windows 11 for ease of management, but we have a fleet of Chromebooks and OS Flex devices. I would love to move to Linux on the desktop, but I have no intentions of fielding the support that would generate...

[PotNoodleTech]

I picked Win 10.  I hate Win 11.

 

I'd be happy with Chrome OS too though it wouldnt be any use for my gaming.

[mikes]

I use Windows at home mostly for software compatibility but I'd feel dirty saying anything of MS was my "favourite", it's like asking what is your favourite way to pay a parking ticket.  If Windows got any worse I may consider looking at a Linux distro (e.g. Windows waking me up at 3am with a toast alert from Microsoft suggesting I try out Xbox gaming...) - but I remember trying to get old Win9x games like Total Annihilation working on WINE being a real faff last time I tried.

[Rob_D]

I use windows at home, mostly for ease of use (and gaming). Although It might be interesting to see if I could get to dual boot to Steam OS.

[drutt]

Windows 11 pro at home, mostly for gaming. Have zero problems with it

[dmj]

3 hours ago, chazzy2501 said:

got steam os on my steamdeck, I want this on my desktop... I've grown to hate Windows with adverts.

I use a steamdeck as my desktop

I hear that steam are releasing steamos 3.0 for desktop soon, though you could use Arch

[southhamster]

Linux Mint. I have ways to do everything I want, sometimes using the Wine Windows emulator. I really don't like the hot mess of Windows 10, and 11 even less. It's also kept my mind busy learning something a bit different!

[Norphy]

Serious answer:

 

At the moment, I'm using macOS and Windows 11 for work and I have Windows 11 installed on my personal computers. I'm not going to say that one is any better than the other; they both have their advantages and disadvantages. I like the macOS UI better overall, however.

[ovenchips]

For Work: MacOS

For Home: Win 11
 

Not a huge fan of either, Using a Macbook at work solely for the battery life, I remote onto everything for work so no OS requirements, and it's extremely handy to have a laptop that can be unplugged and used without care for an entire day - ARM really is something!

 

Using Win11 at home, but the more and more "features" they add to it, the more I'm looking at the leap to Linux. Have been relearning it on my home server with Fedora and very tempted to make the switch within the next year depending on how things go.

[TheHyperTechie]

A mixture! Chrome OS at home, MacOS when travelling, Windows in the Office (and sometimes at home).

[dhicks]

On 28/03/2025 at 16:10, YeetJeepo said:

Just a quick poll to gather data.

I use ChromeOS Flex (on a 2015-model iMac) at school, which handles most of everything I need to do on a daily basis - I have remote desktop for the occasional bit of Windows server administration, but we only have a few local Windows servers now and I'm finding I spend less and less time doign anything on Windows. At the shared workspace where I have a desk I have a Raspberry Pi 5 set up with standard Raspian OS as a desktop machine, which works quite nicely - maybe a bit under-powered compared with some devices, but quite usable. I find I tend to stick to using the Raspian version of Debian when setting up any other desktop machines, and I tend to stick with Debian when setting up servers.

[Brimstone]

macOS user for over 40 years.....

[DalekSec]

Spent 10 Years fixing Windows got to me, last 3 years have been MacOS at work and home!

[PotNoodleTech]

 

2 hours ago, Brimstone said:

macOS user for over 40 years.....

 

Time traveller or did you literally have the first Mac of the production line?

[psydii]

34 minutes ago, PotNoodleTech said:

 

 

Time traveller or did you literally have the first Mac of the production line?

We're getting old.  I saw my first mac at a friends house in '89, actually I saw *three* macs at that time, his dad was very much into them and had basically bought each new model as it was released. His dad's retired, but we are only middle aged!