Ah, I haven't played Skyrim for almost a year. That makes sense though.

I would also like to welcome you to the forums! These are my favorite followers and many are the same as Aurora Winter

Marcurio is one of the best mage followers and good at sneaking.

If you prefer a female ranger follower get Jenassa. She is equally good with a bow and sword.

Eric the Slayer is one of my very favorite followers because of his personality. He is well mannered, cheerful.

Erander is another great mage that you get from doing a quest but I cannot say more for spoilers.

Serana - you can't help but get her if you have Dawnguard.

The best follower of them all is Teldryn Sero from the Dragonborn expansion.

It might be worth mentioning that Mjoll and Derkeethus are essential followers, they cannot be killed.

Mjoll my lioness is awesome, don't let others taint her with talks of repetitive stories as if every companion doesn't say the same thing repeatedly...she's immortal and good with a battleaxe so that makes her a perfect tank type, also you don't have to worry about her dying with any loot she's gladly carrying for you.
I think you have to be level 15 for her to offer the quest that makes her a companion so you're not too far from getting her. The only drawback is Aerin if you marry her but he can be "taken care of"

Mjoll was the worst wife ever. Never slept with me (and never gave me lover's comfort) and brought that freak in to live with me.

But she is one of the best tanks in the game. Better than all those Milk drinker "warriors" from the Companions smelly dog guild that's for sure. Immortality makes her the perfect follower for a mage.

Most if the time I don't use followers and just summon a Dremora Lord whenever I need one, but when I do it's: Serana, Erandur, and Cicero. Besides Serana, these are mainly based off their personality and backgrounds, as I don't see the difference between any sort of follower besides one being a mage and one being a warrior.

I like the wolf twins (Farkas and Vilkas) and Erandur. There's a little more to them than the other followers. From the DLCs, Teldryn Sero from Dragonborn.

There was an entire thread on this follower not too long ago - you may want to dig it up. The gist of it was that most followers level up with your Player Character (PC) but the followers have a cap. This guy, Teldryn Sero is part of the Dragonborn expansion (or DownLoadable Content, DLC) to the vanilla game and his level cap is 60 so he may be the most powerful follower in terms of health, magicka etc. I'm not keen on followers but it is nice to have company sometimes.

my all-time fav is a Conan mod .

Sweet Lydia. How can you say such things about her!

Serana, hands down.

except for the part... "what did you need", "what did you need", "what did you need", "what did you need", "what did you need", "what did you need", "what did you need"

Fortunately, that part doesn't last long.

Agreed to the max. Faralda looks good (though I always change her hairstyle), has lots of dialogue throughout the College which makes her stand out among the generic faceless hirelings, she has a great voice (my favorite among the women tbh)

and most importantly

an Altmer.

Serana, who doesn't like the idea of rescuing a vampire damsel in distress?