which os is the best out there?

[ravenorus]

what is the best os out there windows9x linux unix dos. or is there good points for all the os systems

[gstudios]

That, my friend, is a very open ended question. One which has been asked quite a bit here aswell.

What are you going to use it for?:
- server
- desktop
- tinkering

I am surprised you left out the Mac OS.

[ThePreacher]

This question can not be answered by anyone in a fair unbiased way, and the answer totally depends on the needs and skills of the user. Since my answer is a personal opinion, I will not attempt to sway you in any direction, unfortunately others arent as nice. Try as many out as possible and make up your own opinions. That is why we are blessed with freedom of thought.

[Dome]

Agreed with both Preacher and gstudios

Personaly i like Linux for Workstation, Server, and anything in between

But like Anthony said, its a biased answer because i myself use Linux (Red Hat to be exact) as my server and i like it.

I say download different flavors of *nix, different versions of win (NT/2000/XP/98) mayeb even try MacOSX(bah)
and se wich one you like

[gstudios]

Oh and another note. If you like 'new' like VERY new OS's... Check out www.osnews.com - while they don't post stories about new OS's or even OS's in general every day, they do announce when new releases are out, and when a new OS comes out.

The OS i use as my desktop is win2k pro. Tried Linux, but just didn't work for me, for me as a Desktop OS. Much better for server related (biased opinion of course

[Focmaester]

Best OS?
As a desktop system OS X
as a secure server OpenBSD

[tenguzero]

From the little bit of exposure to Linux that I've had, I found it to be rather intriguing, as I've always enjoyed the feeling of control offered my a command line. (and I like the Mahjong on my Redhat ) But as of late, I've moved most of my activities to Win2K. '98, while still great for playing my games on, now strikes me as slightly pedestrian, and, because of the stability of 2k I feel more comfortable tinkering with things.

[souleman]

Whats the best color? Purple, green, orange, lavender? Pretty much the same question now isn't it?

[tyger_claw]

What's wrong with good ol' DOS?

Ok, so it can't multitask or support 32bit, but who needs it!

I say, go with classic DOS 2.0

[draziw]

LOL... lots of good/funny replies here... and, as some also posed, "What's the best color?" All in all, it comes down to what you're going to use it for and what you want to get out of it... I wouldn't run a web server on a Mac or PC, and I probably wouldn't try to play games on a UN*X workstation, either (though I still sometimes go looking for "adventure" every now and again... ahhh... memories).

Some of my favorites, however:
- Linux (Mandrake) for my laptop/scanning system
- OpenBSD for a decently secure/fast bastion host
- Solaris for an all-around stable/dependable server (webserver, db server, etc)
- Winblowz 98se or 2k for a gaming box

I'm currently "up in the air": about a web design / development box, though tending to sway towards something like a Mandrake box with GIMP or the like rather than a PC with Photoshop/Dreamweaver and a broken version of Apache.

Just my $0.02...