Windows is the best operating system?

[Big Booger]

It's the most "mainstream" would be more appropriate. But let's wait for the troll to sway us from Microsoft products.

I wonder though Conan, if there were a better alternative certainly the number of users would be more balanced toward the better OS. I mean if it were total sh!te as some like to say, wouldn't there be less people using it?

I am not a Microsoft fanboy... you all know I am into linux, have helped several users on here get help and run quite a few distros myself...

But when you think about it, what other OS is as compatible, as versatile and as easy to use as windows?

You'll be hard to find one that meets all those criteria... Linux (nope) OSX (nope) BSD (nope) Unix (nope)...

Is windows full of bugs and sometimes a pain the arse.. certainly.. Is it easy to jump on the windows bashing wagon? Definitely...

But would your computing be better off without windows? I highly doubt it.

Do I like windows better than other OSes... no. In fact, if I had to choose, it'd be either a linux variant, or OSX... (but that all depends on what I want to do as egghead said.)

[Aloone_Jonez]

Right, you've raised the points this discussion normally raises so I'll deal with them and raise some more. Unfortunately I can't refer to any of the threads I've started here because the a certain administrator lost his temper and deleted them dispite the fact that they didn't violate the rules I suppose I can understand him being mad when he discovered Microsuck so he's forgiven. Damn I shouldn't have provided a link to that forum by using smilies from it and I don't know why I used the same user name, oh well I'll live and learn.

Anyway back on track, I suppose I'll have to refer to the threads I've made over at Microsuck, be warned although I'll sensor any bad words in the quotes don't click on the links if you don't like swearing.

Is Windows full of bugs?

Well of course there are some bugs (like any software) but the NT kernel itself isn't that bad, read The Vandalisation of Windows and you'll see what I mean. Windows NT is loosly based on VMS because it was written by the same people - Microsoft hired a group of developers from Digital Equipment Corporation led by Dave Cutler, for more on this see the NT Wikipedia page.

I've run Windows with no anti-virus (or other 3rd party sercurity products) for I don't know how long and my system is as stable and responsive as the day it was when I installed Windows. For the method check out this post and this thread also makes good reading.

Infact I'll defend Windows if I hear anyone making unfair judgements about it and I sometimes play devil's advocate to over on Microsuck, often some members on will be forgiven for thinking that I actually support Microsoft.

I Windows the best OS?

Technically no, not for any purpose what so ever.
Mac OS is the best desktop OS - it has an excellant user interface and a brilliant security model.
The best server would be BSD.
Linux is a healthy comprimise between the two but each distribution will be differant, Slackware is probably best for servers while Ubuntu or Mandiva are the best desktops.

Another advantage with Linux is it's open source, this means if you know what you're doing you can fix bug yoursef and there are no undocumented functions (just try making sense of all the key in the Windows registry), this also makes it a low cost option. Linux is great because it's infinitely customisable and unlike Windows you can scale it to run on older hardware, for eample a 256MB 1GHz box might be set up with KDE, a 128MB 600MHz machine with GNOME, 64MB with XFCE, 32B with fluxbox and a text mode install for that <16MB crappy old pentuim 1. Software bloat isn't such a problem because you can recompile the kernel and remove the stuff you don't need although I've never needed to do this. I've had many flamewars with people about open source vs proprietary software, I don't have a problem with the latter but here's an agument I've had with someone who believes proprietary software is evil.

What advantages does Windows have over Linux/BSD?

It depends on your reasoning, I suppose running games is an advantage to the user but we can't look at this if we're judging the OS purely from a technical perspective.

The only advantages Windows has over Linux is OLE and DDE, you can insert objects from one progam in an other and drag and drop objects between programs, also all Windows programs have a common look and feel, note that Mac OS also hase these features. Windows' main downfall against Linux/BSD and Mac OS is memory management and the security model - I could go on about this more but I'm sure you're aware of this.

Has MS done anything good for the industry?
The is whole new debate, and I've discussed this here.

Does Microsoft innovate?
No, most of the features in Microsoft Windows and MS-DOS have been copied from other software like Mac OS or UNIX.

Some people say that Linux isn't innovative.
True Linux has copied from Windows and Mac OS (look at KDE and XFCE) but they have innovated and added new features, take BASH for example, that's copied from UNIX but they've improved the command line editing and short cut features.

Why does everyone use Windows then if it isn't the best?
Why doesn't everyone use a Linux OS for example?

Linux is in a bit of a vicious circle at the moment, people often don't use it because their hardware doesn't support it and neither does some of the Windows only software (for which there isn't a Linux equivalent) they use (mainly games and engineering software). Some hardware and software vendors don't start support Linux because (in their oppinion) it doesn't have a high enough user-base but how will it ever gain enough users if the industry doesn't back it?

This also affects Mac OS, BSD, ect. and is the only reason why I use Windows, Linux won't run the electronic simulation software I require for my work and there's no Linux equivalent either, this thread is also good reading.

Most people use Windows because they are unaware that any alternatives to it exist, and yes I do realize that this isn't the case for the people on this forum.

[Reverend]

Unfortunately I can't refer to any of the threads I've started here because the a certain administrator lost his temper and deleted them dispite the fact that they didn't violate the rules

Care to name the administrator who you accuse of deleting threads. Get your facts right before making assumptions. To my knowledge none of your threads have been deleted by anyone.

BTW, Good thread Boogs. Reel him in. Hook,line and sinker.

[Aloone_Jonez]

Sorry for jumping to conclusions, I'll pm you.