So I'm asking this questiont to guage the general opinion of these forums in regards to their favorite OS or which OS they like for certain situations. As for the poll, well there are just too many variations of each OS to fit them all in one poll reasonably, so just choose the one that is closest to the one you like most. For instance, I love Ubuntu, so I would choose that on the poll where it says Linux Distro.

As for me, when it comes to work-related projects -- coding, web development, rails, ect, I prefer working with Ubuntu and Yosemite. Those two platforms are excellent. The use of the terminal for each one is intuitive and everything is very snappy. I'm a Mac user when it comes to work related projects. I used Windows for many years, but I've learned to appreciate each OS and platform for different situations. When I need to game, Windows is where I go. When I just want to get some work done, I do it on a Mac when I need to be portable and on linux when I'm home or both.

Windows 10, it can do 99% of the things I need it to do, and it's compatible with almost all software.

I've got linux on my laptop for those few things Windows can't do.

Depends. Linux is my desktop system of choice for doing general stuff like the usual office stuff, browsing, email etc; BSD I prefer for server-related gubbins; and Windows for games, though that's definitely by necessity rather than any sort of preference: I've never liked Windows and wouldn't otherwise use it by choice.

I also like older operating systems which have sadly become things of the past like VMS and TOPS-10, though once I'd made my peace with Unix that ended up being my natural home.

I use to like Windows back in the day and, in a way, I still do, the older versions, 95, 98, and XP. However, after XP, it just seemed to go downhill. I haven't been satisfied with any of the releases they have come out with lately. OSX has been pretty stable for me so far, and it doesn't have all this "flash", which I think tends to be quite distracting when all I want to do is open up Sublime and a terminal, not to mention the terminal in Windows is pretty much gimped anyway.

gnu/Linux, because it is the one that svcks the least. And I can run Windows in a VM with low overhead.

Windows 10 doesn't respect my rights. Windows before then was acceptable as a main OS, but still not my favorite.

Mac OS X doesn't respect me as a human by treating me like an idiot and locking me into Apple's ecosystem

That just leaves gnu/Linux as a desktop OS (along with some less popular oses like bsd and haiku and the like) so it wins just for treating me with dignity.

Every OS svcks, just gotta go with the ones that svck the least

Though the poll should perhaps add Android and ios.

Well, I don't know that they all svck, but some definitely do, Windows Vista and 8 come to mind quite readily. Certain versions of Linux I'm not a huge fan of. I've never had an issue working in OSX. For what I need to do: programming, web-development, terminal, photoshop, ect, it has worked flawlessly.

I like Ubuntu the most, but sometimes it glitches up. It's kind of a tie between Ubuntu and OSX for me.

Windows 10, its better than 8. It does everything i need, which amounts to internet, typing, and video games. Truth be told i use my phone or tablet way more than my computer for browsing or watching movies/shows/youtube, so i guess i should actually say android?

I wasn't sure if I should have added Android or iOS, but maybe I should have...

Oh well, there's always next time lol.

From your own standard there is nothing bad about Windows vista and 8 as they do the things you listed flawlessly too. What makes an os svck is that every OS has its bias and set of compromises instead of working how you want it to, so its a matter of finding the one that is least offensive.

For me everything about Mac OS X is offensive. The good bits of it (posix, bash) are soiled due to bash being highly outdated and OS X not playing nicely with other posix systems.

If you use the standard of basic functionality, every OS is equal so that is a bad metric.

Windows, 20 years of using it, i'm probably too use to using it really, i tried linux for a little bit, but didn't like it much, i have no experience with OSX.

Not really. I spend 80% of my time in the terminal. I don't want to be putzing around the desktop, wasting precious time, clicking through tiles and multiple menus or trying to manually remove Windows bloatware because Microsoft doesn't believe the user should have root privelidges.

As far as bash being outdated...it has an incredible number of uses that say otherwise, especially to sysadmin types that I've talked to who find it's uses more apparent than myself.

Also, OSX is posix certified, a lot of others are barely compliant, which isn't OSX fault, but those who aren't able to meet those standards.

From my experience, especially with friends who prefer Windows, the real reason not to use Mac, has more to do with the philosophy behind the company. The product itself is excellent from the OS to the computers themselves. They even recognize many advantages to OSX over Windows. Linux is a different story however. Even myself, I find Ubuntu offers a bit more in some areas, which is why I have both.

I mean I use Windows as well, but I would never work in that kind of environment. I have even tried, and it found it to be sluggish and distracting, even annoying in most cases. I have no problem using it when it comes to entertainment purposes, video-games, streaming video, even web browsing, but I wont have it installed on a laptop if I can help it.

A few different flavors of Linux as well as Windows 7.

I'm going to make a (likely unpopular) statement and say that Windows Vista was a much better OS than Windows XP. Vista had a lot of launch issues (largely compatibility problems) that gave it a bad name, but those were ironed out, which made way for Windows 7 (which is essentially Vista with some optimizations and GUI updates). Most of the major problems were issues with 3rd party software and drivers needing updates to fully comply with new(ish) Windows standards. By SP1, Vista was a faster (on newer hardware), more stable, and more secure OS than XP.

I think that OSX is a decent OS if you like the Mac ecosystem. I'm not in the target demographic, though. I hate it.

What kind of linux distros do you like the best?

I didn't know that about Vista. I used it when it first came out, and quickly removed it. To be fair, I might be in the minority too, but I really liked 98. I understand there were some security issues with it I believe, but I thought it was a very solid, clean OS. To me, "clean" is very important. I don't like a lot of clutter. Aesthetically, it's one of the reasons why I'm not a huge fan of the latest Windows products to say the least. But it certainly is an important element. I mean it makes more sense to work in an environment you like especially if you're going to spend countless hours working in it.

I prefer Linux over Windows in general. But unfortunately, I am stuck with Windows for most games.

Windows 8.1, modified to look like Windows 7 (I dislke the 'flat' Win 8 interface as well as the lack of a proper start menu). I'd happily use Win 7 if it provided the same level of support for my Lumia phone. No intention to move on to Win 10; Microsoft seems a little too keen to read all of my e-mails and inspect files 'in my private folders' (quote from the privacy statement). I imagine they want my banking details, too.

Lately I've been liking openSUSE for a desktop OS. For servers and screwing around with the OS: Debian or Arch.

There is literally no reason to use any OS other than Windows unless you actually require some functionality that is not available in Windows.