Since it was interesting to read your replies to the Server Hosting thread, I decided to create another one since I'm sure many of you would have a couple (or three or four) things to say about this topic too.
Similarly to the other thread, I will give some examples of topics which I think would be interesting to talk about in case you don't really know where to start, but you can talk about pretty much anything you want to related to this. If you aren't sure whether what you would say is worthy of this thread, please include it anyways, even if it's just a silly anecdote it's probably more interesting than you think. Anyways, here are the suggestions:
- Which OSs have you ever used? (You don't have to name all of them if it's a lot)
- Which ones have you used as a on a daily basis?
- Which OS are you using currently? What are your thoughts on it?
- Which are some atypical setups you have ever had? Here I'm thinking about downgrading your OS and installing Win 7 or XP on it even if it came with a more modern OS by default, using a hackingtosh...
- What is your favourite OS? You can talk about more than one if you feel like you can't choose lol
- Are there any weird/unpopular OSs that you would like to talk about?
- What about servers? Do you have any strong preferences related to the OS of your servers?
- And what about smartphones? Do you have anything to say related to their OS? Note that saying that all of the modern OSs for phone suck and that they mobile phones peaked in the Nokia era is a valid opinion if you don't really care much about smartphones.
- BONUS: Show any screenshots if you have them! Sadly, I don't have any I could show in this thread :(
I have mainly used Windows during most of my life, but I have dabbled on some other types of OSs here and there. I started with Windows 97 with my dad's computer and when I got my own computer I started using 7. I think I used XP at some point in my life when it was still in support, maybe in some school computer or something.
Afterwards, I got another laptop, this time with Windows 8 which I ended up upgrading it to 10 (for free!). However, it started to slow down after a few years (or maybe I needed a few years to truly notice how slow my computer is) and, since I had started using Ubuntu for university, I decided to install it in my laptop as a dual boot, since I figured out it will be faster than running Windows 10 on it. Looking back into it, I should probably had used another desktop environment other than GNOME, since GNOME was anything but intuitive. Currently, I think I have Lubuntu on it since the laptop is very old but I still use it as some sort of backup or when I travel with my friends, since I can put a bunch of series on it and watch it together whenever we are resting.
Then I bought my current computer with Windows 10 and I haven't updated it to 11 basically because I'm lazy.
Other than those OSs, I have used macOS for a project in university in which we had to develop an app for iOS, Windows 11 for the computer I use for work, and XP first in school computers and a couple of years ago in a VM because I just wanted to try it out again after so many years.
I don't really have any hard opinions on Windows 10 or 11, but it's true that one thing that I noticed while using XP after so many years and being able to compare it with the modern versions of Windows is that I did not have to use PowerShell scripts to be able to remove some of the programs which were installed by default. Hell, XP didn't have stuff like the XBOX APP, Cortana or the Windows Store. It included great games like 3D Pinball for Windows - Space Cadet or Minesweeper. Also, I found the interface very intuitive, I found the settings easy to find and to change. These days, I think most options are so hard to find that, other than the ones I already know, I end up using the search bar most of the time :/
I don't really have any hard opinions on servers, I just use Ubuntu because it's the one I'm more used to because of university. As for phones, I've used Android for most of my life since I'm too poor for an iPhone. I have used an iPhone 8 for a year or so, but that was in 2022, so the battery was kinda bad for today's standards (the fact that it was able to run iOS 14, the current version of iOS at the time, was nice though).
Similarly to the other thread, I will give some examples of topics which I think would be interesting to talk about in case you don't really know where to start, but you can talk about pretty much anything you want to related to this. If you aren't sure whether what you would say is worthy of this thread, please include it anyways, even if it's just a silly anecdote it's probably more interesting than you think. Anyways, here are the suggestions:
- Which OSs have you ever used? (You don't have to name all of them if it's a lot)
- Which ones have you used as a on a daily basis?
- Which OS are you using currently? What are your thoughts on it?
- Which are some atypical setups you have ever had? Here I'm thinking about downgrading your OS and installing Win 7 or XP on it even if it came with a more modern OS by default, using a hackingtosh...
- What is your favourite OS? You can talk about more than one if you feel like you can't choose lol
- Are there any weird/unpopular OSs that you would like to talk about?
- What about servers? Do you have any strong preferences related to the OS of your servers?
- And what about smartphones? Do you have anything to say related to their OS? Note that saying that all of the modern OSs for phone suck and that they mobile phones peaked in the Nokia era is a valid opinion if you don't really care much about smartphones.
- BONUS: Show any screenshots if you have them! Sadly, I don't have any I could show in this thread :(
I have mainly used Windows during most of my life, but I have dabbled on some other types of OSs here and there. I started with Windows 97 with my dad's computer and when I got my own computer I started using 7. I think I used XP at some point in my life when it was still in support, maybe in some school computer or something.
Afterwards, I got another laptop, this time with Windows 8 which I ended up upgrading it to 10 (for free!). However, it started to slow down after a few years (or maybe I needed a few years to truly notice how slow my computer is) and, since I had started using Ubuntu for university, I decided to install it in my laptop as a dual boot, since I figured out it will be faster than running Windows 10 on it. Looking back into it, I should probably had used another desktop environment other than GNOME, since GNOME was anything but intuitive. Currently, I think I have Lubuntu on it since the laptop is very old but I still use it as some sort of backup or when I travel with my friends, since I can put a bunch of series on it and watch it together whenever we are resting.
Then I bought my current computer with Windows 10 and I haven't updated it to 11 basically because I'm lazy.
Other than those OSs, I have used macOS for a project in university in which we had to develop an app for iOS, Windows 11 for the computer I use for work, and XP first in school computers and a couple of years ago in a VM because I just wanted to try it out again after so many years.
I don't really have any hard opinions on Windows 10 or 11, but it's true that one thing that I noticed while using XP after so many years and being able to compare it with the modern versions of Windows is that I did not have to use PowerShell scripts to be able to remove some of the programs which were installed by default. Hell, XP didn't have stuff like the XBOX APP, Cortana or the Windows Store. It included great games like 3D Pinball for Windows - Space Cadet or Minesweeper. Also, I found the interface very intuitive, I found the settings easy to find and to change. These days, I think most options are so hard to find that, other than the ones I already know, I end up using the search bar most of the time :/
I don't really have any hard opinions on servers, I just use Ubuntu because it's the one I'm more used to because of university. As for phones, I've used Android for most of my life since I'm too poor for an iPhone. I have used an iPhone 8 for a year or so, but that was in 2022, so the battery was kinda bad for today's standards (the fact that it was able to run iOS 14, the current version of iOS at the time, was nice though).
The first computer we had, and that was kinda sorta mine eventually, ran Windows 98 and later Me, so we could share the internet connection from my dad's computer to it. Later on I got another shitbox (one I still have!!) that ran XP, that was my daily driver for years and with which I learned about the Pro Strat to Fix Any Windows Issue (inplace upgrade to the same version/service pack) because I bricked half the system by trying to install a Windows Vista transformation pack... During that period I had a variety of systems that I got for free from my primary school that generally ran XP, I did try a couple other OSes on it but after trying Vista and not having access to Aero effects because the "GPU" (in quotes because "processing" would be an overstated, it was moreso Mulling) I got a bit disillusioned and just ran XP. In like 2011(?) I got a netbook for as a gift from my final primary school teacher after "graduating" (do you refer to it as such with primary school??) cuz he didn't use it and I would often mess with it after class. I managed to get Windows 7 with Aero to run on that so that was really cool to finally experience on a device of my own.
Bit later on in 2012 I bought a proper laptop which also ran Windows 7, later upgraded that to Windows 8.1u1 when that was the latest thing. However that laptop died within like 2 years because an acquaintance spilled beer on it and it started dying over time... After that I had to switch back to XP for a while in 2015, before wasting my money on my very first Thinkpad T400 which swapped between running Windows 7 and 8.1 through which I've noticed that 8.1 generally manages to squeeze better performance out of poorer hardware than 7 does, except for fringe cases. I suppose they really had to try their hardest to get that OS running properly on the first Surface tablet, and it shows because it's definitely the snappiest post-XP Windows version.
Later in 2015 reemo mostly financed the building of the system I currently still use today. This thing has literally ran everything between 7 and 11, and I'm currently on 7 with a dual boot on 10 for streaming. I'm definitely growing frustrated with Windows 7s shortcomings in the current era and I've debated upgrading it to Windows 8.1u1 again, but I wonder how much that would solve at this point (and for how long...). Honestly any of the computers I'm currently using could be considered pretty atypical. My primary laptop is a Thinkpad X201 running macOS Monterey and I'm very happy with it other than some quirks that are inherent to running macOS on unsupported hardware. My eventual plan is to abandon Windows entirely and just get a MacBook, maybe a Steam Deck for PC games or something but I don't really super actively play those.
You may have noticed a lack of Linux in my daily drivings, but that's certainly not for a lack of trying. I'm not sure what it is but Linux as a desktop operating system and I just really do not get along. I did mention wanting a Steam Deck just now and I would definitely just run SteamOS on that, but I have more faith in that given that that OS and hardware are basically made for one another and I don't have to play some kind of support gamble. I've been strongly considering switching to Linux on my main PC again, at least for a while to give it a shot, but hardware remains a barrier and given my desire to just jump ship entirely it doesn't feel very sensible to invest in new/replacement hardware for it unless I absolutely have to.
Server are a different story, however. Linux there all the way! I've already described this in the Server hosting thread, but the VPSes are all currently running Ubuntu. I'm planning to switch to Debian in the long run and my development webserver already runs on it, but I haven't run into a reason yet to redo the configurations of the systems as is. A minor nicety about Debian over Ubuntu is that the base install in terms of packages is a lot lighter so you're able to decide what you want to install in a more finely tuned manner. I've been thinking about swapping out the sudo command for doas because sudo is needlessly complex and I really don't like the look and underlying message of their logo.
As for smartphone OSes, I still think Windows Phone 8.1 is the peak. It ran on smoothly on absolute garbage hardware, it had a well defined UI language that made apps able to really nicely flow into one another. That being said, that was definitely an "at the time" type thing. I wonder how it would've grown if Microsoft hadn't gone down the deep end, but I think modern iOS has carried on the torch pretty well. The widgets they introduced in iOS 14 really reminded me of Windows Phone's live tiles and really made me want to give the OS a shot after numerous frustrations with Android. I genuinely find it hard to understand how anyone enjoys using Android, it genuinely feels to me like the ability to sideload without hoops to jump through is doing A LOT of heavy lifting for people's opinion on it, because other than that I have not felt a desire to jump back (for the sake of the OS at least, we'll get back to that). I think Material U is a nice step in a better direction for the overall feel of it though, and the existence of other types of form factors is really cool. When I have to renew my phone contract again I'm thinking of picking up a purple Samsung Galaxy Z Flip as a secondary device, both to actually have an Android testing device that doesn't have total dog water hardware and because I think the concept is really adorable.
You can find screenshots of my various daily driver desktop, laptop and phone setups in the desktop and homescreen threads, so instead I'll drop one of my old Windows Phone layouts:
I had to block out some pictures of real people because the UI is Very social focussed and because of that likely had the potential to lead to sensory overload, but provided you created a nice layout I think it created a really nice cohesion. Also the fact that you could set a background that showed THROUGH the transparent tiles has always been so cool to me, the only time where Windows was truly a "window" :3
Bit later on in 2012 I bought a proper laptop which also ran Windows 7, later upgraded that to Windows 8.1u1 when that was the latest thing. However that laptop died within like 2 years because an acquaintance spilled beer on it and it started dying over time... After that I had to switch back to XP for a while in 2015, before wasting my money on my very first Thinkpad T400 which swapped between running Windows 7 and 8.1 through which I've noticed that 8.1 generally manages to squeeze better performance out of poorer hardware than 7 does, except for fringe cases. I suppose they really had to try their hardest to get that OS running properly on the first Surface tablet, and it shows because it's definitely the snappiest post-XP Windows version.
Later in 2015 reemo mostly financed the building of the system I currently still use today. This thing has literally ran everything between 7 and 11, and I'm currently on 7 with a dual boot on 10 for streaming. I'm definitely growing frustrated with Windows 7s shortcomings in the current era and I've debated upgrading it to Windows 8.1u1 again, but I wonder how much that would solve at this point (and for how long...). Honestly any of the computers I'm currently using could be considered pretty atypical. My primary laptop is a Thinkpad X201 running macOS Monterey and I'm very happy with it other than some quirks that are inherent to running macOS on unsupported hardware. My eventual plan is to abandon Windows entirely and just get a MacBook, maybe a Steam Deck for PC games or something but I don't really super actively play those.
You may have noticed a lack of Linux in my daily drivings, but that's certainly not for a lack of trying. I'm not sure what it is but Linux as a desktop operating system and I just really do not get along. I did mention wanting a Steam Deck just now and I would definitely just run SteamOS on that, but I have more faith in that given that that OS and hardware are basically made for one another and I don't have to play some kind of support gamble. I've been strongly considering switching to Linux on my main PC again, at least for a while to give it a shot, but hardware remains a barrier and given my desire to just jump ship entirely it doesn't feel very sensible to invest in new/replacement hardware for it unless I absolutely have to.
Server are a different story, however. Linux there all the way! I've already described this in the Server hosting thread, but the VPSes are all currently running Ubuntu. I'm planning to switch to Debian in the long run and my development webserver already runs on it, but I haven't run into a reason yet to redo the configurations of the systems as is. A minor nicety about Debian over Ubuntu is that the base install in terms of packages is a lot lighter so you're able to decide what you want to install in a more finely tuned manner. I've been thinking about swapping out the sudo command for doas because sudo is needlessly complex and I really don't like the look and underlying message of their logo.
As for smartphone OSes, I still think Windows Phone 8.1 is the peak. It ran on smoothly on absolute garbage hardware, it had a well defined UI language that made apps able to really nicely flow into one another. That being said, that was definitely an "at the time" type thing. I wonder how it would've grown if Microsoft hadn't gone down the deep end, but I think modern iOS has carried on the torch pretty well. The widgets they introduced in iOS 14 really reminded me of Windows Phone's live tiles and really made me want to give the OS a shot after numerous frustrations with Android. I genuinely find it hard to understand how anyone enjoys using Android, it genuinely feels to me like the ability to sideload without hoops to jump through is doing A LOT of heavy lifting for people's opinion on it, because other than that I have not felt a desire to jump back (for the sake of the OS at least, we'll get back to that). I think Material U is a nice step in a better direction for the overall feel of it though, and the existence of other types of form factors is really cool. When I have to renew my phone contract again I'm thinking of picking up a purple Samsung Galaxy Z Flip as a secondary device, both to actually have an Android testing device that doesn't have total dog water hardware and because I think the concept is really adorable.
You can find screenshots of my various daily driver desktop, laptop and phone setups in the desktop and homescreen threads, so instead I'll drop one of my old Windows Phone layouts:
I had to block out some pictures of real people because the UI is Very social focussed and because of that likely had the potential to lead to sensory overload, but provided you created a nice layout I think it created a really nice cohesion. Also the fact that you could set a background that showed THROUGH the transparent tiles has always been so cool to me, the only time where Windows was truly a "window" :3
I'm laying down these thoughts at 2.30am... I hope it's coherent.
PC wise, I've daily driven Windows all my life. I did try dipping my hands into Linux and macOS (hackintosh) but none of those ever sat well with me. I know too much about Windows and despite it being far from perfect, I'm enough of a power user to set things up the way I like it. Furthermore, software and hardware compatibility is a concern to me too.
My first experience was on 98SE at the (not so) ripe age of 4. After which I've used everything from XP onwards (skipping 8, I had 8.1 though). I actually had a really good experience with Vista because at that point I had a machine with a Core2 Duo in it -- in fact, I think I liked Vista the most. I'm not going to discredit Windows 7, it further polished the Aero experience, but I think the nostalgia hits harder with Vista considering I still see 7 being used in very specific applications. I have bought a ThinkPad T60 last year just to scratch the nostalgia itch... It runs XP and I've set it up like how I'd wanna use it back then.
Currently I use Windows 11, however with many modifications because I disagree with many of the design decisions MS has made w.r.t. the taskbar and the right click menus... I thought the dark mode would extend to Win32 apps on 11 too, but alas... So I've used a concoction of the following; Winaero Tweaker, StartAllBack, DWMBlurGlass and a theme from DA. Other quality of life programs also include QuickLook, T-Clock, EverythingToolbar, PowerToys, Twinkle Tray, the list goes on... I also wish there was something to completely fix the Control Panel vs Settings problem that's existed since the birth of UWP apps. I've found myself remembering all the names of the necessary Control Panel applets and keying them into the Run dialog.
As for servers, my experience isn't much compared to anyone else here, but I have worked on both Windows and Linux alike. I feel both have their uses and quirks.
Talking about smartphones, I was a die-hard fan of Android until I bit the bullet and jumped ship to iOS by getting the Xs Max in 2018. I've never looked back since. In fact I bought a 15 Pro Max when it came out, and have been enjoying it a lot. I guess I now view my phone as a tool for getting work done and consuming media, instead of having to customise every pixel on the screen and making it look all pretty... Anyways, there's not much point in modifying the home screen when you spend the least time on it. I also find apps on iOS to be more polished and fluid compared to Android, others may have differing opinions but that's my take as a convert. Sure you may be able to sideload apps on Android, but I rather have a better experience as a whole. On top of that, Apple is adding more features that only existed in jailbreaks since iOS 13. I think it's a good direction of where things are going. They're actually listening unlike back then.
I'll dig my archives for some screenshots soon, hopefully they're not lost to time
PC wise, I've daily driven Windows all my life. I did try dipping my hands into Linux and macOS (hackintosh) but none of those ever sat well with me. I know too much about Windows and despite it being far from perfect, I'm enough of a power user to set things up the way I like it. Furthermore, software and hardware compatibility is a concern to me too.
My first experience was on 98SE at the (not so) ripe age of 4. After which I've used everything from XP onwards (skipping 8, I had 8.1 though). I actually had a really good experience with Vista because at that point I had a machine with a Core2 Duo in it -- in fact, I think I liked Vista the most. I'm not going to discredit Windows 7, it further polished the Aero experience, but I think the nostalgia hits harder with Vista considering I still see 7 being used in very specific applications. I have bought a ThinkPad T60 last year just to scratch the nostalgia itch... It runs XP and I've set it up like how I'd wanna use it back then.
Currently I use Windows 11, however with many modifications because I disagree with many of the design decisions MS has made w.r.t. the taskbar and the right click menus... I thought the dark mode would extend to Win32 apps on 11 too, but alas... So I've used a concoction of the following; Winaero Tweaker, StartAllBack, DWMBlurGlass and a theme from DA. Other quality of life programs also include QuickLook, T-Clock, EverythingToolbar, PowerToys, Twinkle Tray, the list goes on... I also wish there was something to completely fix the Control Panel vs Settings problem that's existed since the birth of UWP apps. I've found myself remembering all the names of the necessary Control Panel applets and keying them into the Run dialog.
As for servers, my experience isn't much compared to anyone else here, but I have worked on both Windows and Linux alike. I feel both have their uses and quirks.
Talking about smartphones, I was a die-hard fan of Android until I bit the bullet and jumped ship to iOS by getting the Xs Max in 2018. I've never looked back since. In fact I bought a 15 Pro Max when it came out, and have been enjoying it a lot. I guess I now view my phone as a tool for getting work done and consuming media, instead of having to customise every pixel on the screen and making it look all pretty... Anyways, there's not much point in modifying the home screen when you spend the least time on it. I also find apps on iOS to be more polished and fluid compared to Android, others may have differing opinions but that's my take as a convert. Sure you may be able to sideload apps on Android, but I rather have a better experience as a whole. On top of that, Apple is adding more features that only existed in jailbreaks since iOS 13. I think it's a good direction of where things are going. They're actually listening unlike back then.
I'll dig my archives for some screenshots soon, hopefully they're not lost to time
---
have used almost everything from windows 98 to windows 11, although i do not have active memories of actually using using anything before 7. Now i just run 11 on the desk-top because i genuinly dont care about whatever is supposed to be wrong with it. It works, i have no issues so its fine.
two years ago i finally set foot in the world of macos and i really love it (most recent version whatever it might be called). its quick its intuitive, and it just works really well combined with the rest of the apple ecosystem that i have and use. Yes a macbook was more expensive than a normal windows laptop, but with windows laptops i used to have at home there was always something wrong. The last one i had during the first few years of figuring out what i wanted to study was constantly taking off into the atmosphere, frequent bluescreens, and just unnecessarily heavy to be carrying around all day. With the macbook i have never experienced any of these annoyances and problems ever. The only quality of life software i use to make the macos experience better is Rectangle, to snap windows to places. Which i think wont be needed anymore soon.
Apple ecosystem girlie so i use ios. again intuitive, does not slow down unnecessarily after less than 2 years of use. Before that i used android, never really had that much issues with it, until they decided to fully nuke my sd card i had in it during a software update
two years ago i finally set foot in the world of macos and i really love it (most recent version whatever it might be called). its quick its intuitive, and it just works really well combined with the rest of the apple ecosystem that i have and use. Yes a macbook was more expensive than a normal windows laptop, but with windows laptops i used to have at home there was always something wrong. The last one i had during the first few years of figuring out what i wanted to study was constantly taking off into the atmosphere, frequent bluescreens, and just unnecessarily heavy to be carrying around all day. With the macbook i have never experienced any of these annoyances and problems ever. The only quality of life software i use to make the macos experience better is Rectangle, to snap windows to places. Which i think wont be needed anymore soon.
Apple ecosystem girlie so i use ios. again intuitive, does not slow down unnecessarily after less than 2 years of use. Before that i used android, never really had that much issues with it, until they decided to fully nuke my sd card i had in it during a software update
hosimati suisei please
the family pc when i was born ran Me but i don't really count it as a personal experience as i was very little and only have vague recollections of it always showing the active desktop recovery error on boot lol.
the OS that got me acquainted with computing was XP, probably starting at age 3 when my sister went on a trip and i would mess about on her temporarily unoccupied computer running it. learnt how to read without my mom even realizing it just so i could navigate the thing, downloading adware and talking to horny gay strangers on AIM. shortly afterwards we got a family pc and having mostly free reign of that is really what got me into poking inside the system itself, tweaking things in control panel, creating my own user account, custom windows classic colours, mesmerized by the mystery of how it all came together. at some point i learnt the kernel was important so naturally i deleted it and bricked the install and no one knew how to reset windows so rip. me and my siblings ended up smashing the thing up with a hammer lol
after a while of having no free reign of a computer and having to beg my older siblings to give me turns on theirs, on christmas 2007 we got a new family pc, an emachines running the fabled windows vista. i remember how big the press was on vista when it came out and i thought the aesthetics was incredible. it's tragically(?) a core memory of mine firing it up for the first time and actually screaming with joy when i saw on the login screen that it was Home Premium meaning i was about to live the full aero glass experience. this computer was my true gateway to the internet (hehe get it cuz gateway owned emachines at this point in time) as i started creating my own accounts on platforms such as youtube with it. unfortunately with only 1gb ram and a slow HDD, paired with the fact i was stupid and downloaded a lot of *ware, vista chugged on that machine, by this point i knew how to illegally download XP and burn a DVD so i just did that and it ran a lot better. however i always maintained a soft spot for vista and it wouldn't be my last time using it.
continued with XP thru christmas 2008 when i get my very first truly personal computer, if an 800mhz celeron Eee PC counts as such, however i ran the windows 7 beta in virtualbox on this machine. i truly fail to comprehend how i had the patience for that when i was even more highly strung as a child than i am now, but i guess the childlike wonder was enough to overpower it? in early 2010 i was gifted a dell inspiron 530S by a family member who was going to chuck it had i not immediately JUMPED on it. carried 7 (now RTM) over to this machine after wiping the busted vista install it came with. would continue using 7 on the next four (daily driver) machines i owned. i don't have a lot to say about 7 other than it was rock solid, probably the final consistent experience microsoft offered for the desktop, and the last one you could just plop on and have it Exist without intervention.
i did use windows 8 from 2012-2017 (with some detours back to 7 and even XP inbetween) and have been growing increasingly nostalgic for its aesthetic over time, however at this point windows was already beginning to take control from the end user and i would have trouble with it slowing my system down tremendously trying to do ambiguous background tasks that were hard to get rid of. oddly enough though it actually ran better than 7 on certain legacy systems, such as my core duo (no 2!) laptop from 2006 that had to act temporarily as my daily driver for a short while in 2015.
unfortunately in march 2022 i made the mistake of upgrading and my time with Legacy window came to an end, as i have to use windows 11 on my laptop. this is not the window i grew up with and i lament it deeply. the lack of control over my own system as well as various idiosyncracies as a symptom of an os that can't just sit still really gets to me and i've heavily considered jumping ship to linux. i've tried various distributions on and off but am yet to find a cosy setup, though i probably just need to give it time. in writing this post i realised i've never dd'd windows 10 which is pretty funny. i had a terrible experience with it in 2015 and just kinda never bothered giving it another chance after that point
re: servers: i prefer to set my servers up in a way that i never have to think about them other than when the bill comes at the end of the month, ubuntu server has done that job fine for me. should probably update my vps though as it's running a long since unsupported LTS version now lol
re: phones, ios just werks
the OS that got me acquainted with computing was XP, probably starting at age 3 when my sister went on a trip and i would mess about on her temporarily unoccupied computer running it. learnt how to read without my mom even realizing it just so i could navigate the thing, downloading adware and talking to horny gay strangers on AIM. shortly afterwards we got a family pc and having mostly free reign of that is really what got me into poking inside the system itself, tweaking things in control panel, creating my own user account, custom windows classic colours, mesmerized by the mystery of how it all came together. at some point i learnt the kernel was important so naturally i deleted it and bricked the install and no one knew how to reset windows so rip. me and my siblings ended up smashing the thing up with a hammer lol
after a while of having no free reign of a computer and having to beg my older siblings to give me turns on theirs, on christmas 2007 we got a new family pc, an emachines running the fabled windows vista. i remember how big the press was on vista when it came out and i thought the aesthetics was incredible. it's tragically(?) a core memory of mine firing it up for the first time and actually screaming with joy when i saw on the login screen that it was Home Premium meaning i was about to live the full aero glass experience. this computer was my true gateway to the internet (hehe get it cuz gateway owned emachines at this point in time) as i started creating my own accounts on platforms such as youtube with it. unfortunately with only 1gb ram and a slow HDD, paired with the fact i was stupid and downloaded a lot of *ware, vista chugged on that machine, by this point i knew how to illegally download XP and burn a DVD so i just did that and it ran a lot better. however i always maintained a soft spot for vista and it wouldn't be my last time using it.
continued with XP thru christmas 2008 when i get my very first truly personal computer, if an 800mhz celeron Eee PC counts as such, however i ran the windows 7 beta in virtualbox on this machine. i truly fail to comprehend how i had the patience for that when i was even more highly strung as a child than i am now, but i guess the childlike wonder was enough to overpower it? in early 2010 i was gifted a dell inspiron 530S by a family member who was going to chuck it had i not immediately JUMPED on it. carried 7 (now RTM) over to this machine after wiping the busted vista install it came with. would continue using 7 on the next four (daily driver) machines i owned. i don't have a lot to say about 7 other than it was rock solid, probably the final consistent experience microsoft offered for the desktop, and the last one you could just plop on and have it Exist without intervention.
i did use windows 8 from 2012-2017 (with some detours back to 7 and even XP inbetween) and have been growing increasingly nostalgic for its aesthetic over time, however at this point windows was already beginning to take control from the end user and i would have trouble with it slowing my system down tremendously trying to do ambiguous background tasks that were hard to get rid of. oddly enough though it actually ran better than 7 on certain legacy systems, such as my core duo (no 2!) laptop from 2006 that had to act temporarily as my daily driver for a short while in 2015.
unfortunately in march 2022 i made the mistake of upgrading and my time with Legacy window came to an end, as i have to use windows 11 on my laptop. this is not the window i grew up with and i lament it deeply. the lack of control over my own system as well as various idiosyncracies as a symptom of an os that can't just sit still really gets to me and i've heavily considered jumping ship to linux. i've tried various distributions on and off but am yet to find a cosy setup, though i probably just need to give it time. in writing this post i realised i've never dd'd windows 10 which is pretty funny. i had a terrible experience with it in 2015 and just kinda never bothered giving it another chance after that point
re: servers: i prefer to set my servers up in a way that i never have to think about them other than when the bill comes at the end of the month, ubuntu server has done that job fine for me. should probably update my vps though as it's running a long since unsupported LTS version now lol
re: phones, ios just werks
- Which OSs have you ever used?
98se, XP, 7, 8, 8.1, 10, 11. from the linux side Ubuntu, Mint, Manjaro, Zorin, Endeavour, Fedora, Arch and lastly Haiku and hackintosh for a little just for fun
- Which ones have you used as a on a daily basis?
7, 8.1, 10, 11 and Mint, Manjaro, Endeavour, Arch
The first os ive used was windows 98se on the family computer when I was really young, I only used to mess with the 98 Plus! feautures didn't really do much with it, this was way before we ever got internet in our house.
From there I usually used XP on school computers or my cousin's house around 2007 but I wouldnt get a more easily accessible way to browse until 2009 when my dad got a 7 machine for his workplace that I used to visit like 2 days per week to browse and play club penguin.
This went on until middle school where I finally got my own pc and internet in the house in mid 2013 with win8 that I only used for like a few days before upgrading to 8.1, around 2015 when 10 dropped I instantly upgraded to it with the awesome upgrade for free! offer they did back then and soon after my system broke cause launch 10 was attrocious so I downgraded to 8.1 and stayed there up until 2019 where I built my current computer and installed 10 on it.
I only started learning about computers and why what software you use matters in late 2020 and shortly after win11 is where I started experimenting with linux cause frankly, I got hit by the realization of the enshittification of windows that was apparent ever since like 20H2 on 10 (if not from the beginning since I downgraded back then) and I always had issues with it, functional, aesthetical, ethical or disagreements with the direction they're taking it in general.
I will leave it here cause the story will go on forever if I touch on linux
- Which OS are you using currently? What are your thoughts on it?
Currently I'm on Arch linux with KDE Plasma and I'm relatevely content with it, it functions and peforms leagues better than modern windows ever did, especially when plasma 6 dropped cause imo this is when desktop linux legitimately started being not a joke (maybe in 5.27 too but I digress).
It's not as high maintenance as some people make it out to be but I definitely wouldn't use it on a system that needs real work done like for a demanding IT job or stuff like tetr.io with osk cause even though things usually don't completely break after updates, Dealing with bugs from new releases is a very very common thing that will annoy you or sometimes even have you troubleshoot for.
I've gotten tired of it several times in the past but for my usecase being playing games and loving to test brand new software it couldn't be more fitting since getting new stuff like plasma 6 and constant wayland improvements directly translates to having a better general experience in everything, I wouldn't want to wait for years to arrive in LTS distros and having to rely on the bandaid solution packaging formats like flatpak etc.
- Which are some atypical setups you have ever had?
I did use 7 on my main for like a few weeks once, came with all the issues of running old software on brand new hardware so it didn't last long but I haven't done much else other than hackintoshing a laptop for like 2 days
- What is your favourite OS?
Windows 7.
I don't have anything else to say that hasn't been said a bazillion times already, it's just not viable for a daily driver anymore
In a fantasy land where windows was still exactly the same as 7 with only improvements upon it I would've never moved to linux there's no doubt about it
- Are there any weird/unpopular OSs that you would like to talk about?
Haiku.
It's honestly really nice to use and it's workflow is unique and strangely intuitive, I don't have much else to say you obviously can't do much on it
- What about servers?
I have never done server work
- And what about smartphones?
I wasn't allowed a phone up untill my mid teens so I never had any pre-smartphone era phones for myself but I have used some that I have no idea what their os are, my devices always had android so I guess I started with android 4.4.4 kitkat.
I don't like android 12 and after material you that much but I've gotten used to it
About the lack of apple stuff, unfortunately I don't think I will ever try or want to try IOS or any modern Mac simply cause I can't afford such thing as a student living in a country with abhorent living conditions and no way to make enough income for luxuries like this. Their way of things just like microsoft's doesn't go well with what I believe software/hardware should be anyway.
Unrelated. 200th post
98se, XP, 7, 8, 8.1, 10, 11. from the linux side Ubuntu, Mint, Manjaro, Zorin, Endeavour, Fedora, Arch and lastly Haiku and hackintosh for a little just for fun
- Which ones have you used as a on a daily basis?
7, 8.1, 10, 11 and Mint, Manjaro, Endeavour, Arch
The first os ive used was windows 98se on the family computer when I was really young, I only used to mess with the 98 Plus! feautures didn't really do much with it, this was way before we ever got internet in our house.
From there I usually used XP on school computers or my cousin's house around 2007 but I wouldnt get a more easily accessible way to browse until 2009 when my dad got a 7 machine for his workplace that I used to visit like 2 days per week to browse and play club penguin.
This went on until middle school where I finally got my own pc and internet in the house in mid 2013 with win8 that I only used for like a few days before upgrading to 8.1, around 2015 when 10 dropped I instantly upgraded to it with the awesome upgrade for free! offer they did back then and soon after my system broke cause launch 10 was attrocious so I downgraded to 8.1 and stayed there up until 2019 where I built my current computer and installed 10 on it.
I only started learning about computers and why what software you use matters in late 2020 and shortly after win11 is where I started experimenting with linux cause frankly, I got hit by the realization of the enshittification of windows that was apparent ever since like 20H2 on 10 (if not from the beginning since I downgraded back then) and I always had issues with it, functional, aesthetical, ethical or disagreements with the direction they're taking it in general.
I will leave it here cause the story will go on forever if I touch on linux
- Which OS are you using currently? What are your thoughts on it?
Currently I'm on Arch linux with KDE Plasma and I'm relatevely content with it, it functions and peforms leagues better than modern windows ever did, especially when plasma 6 dropped cause imo this is when desktop linux legitimately started being not a joke (maybe in 5.27 too but I digress).
It's not as high maintenance as some people make it out to be but I definitely wouldn't use it on a system that needs real work done like for a demanding IT job or stuff like tetr.io with osk cause even though things usually don't completely break after updates, Dealing with bugs from new releases is a very very common thing that will annoy you or sometimes even have you troubleshoot for.
I've gotten tired of it several times in the past but for my usecase being playing games and loving to test brand new software it couldn't be more fitting since getting new stuff like plasma 6 and constant wayland improvements directly translates to having a better general experience in everything, I wouldn't want to wait for years to arrive in LTS distros and having to rely on the bandaid solution packaging formats like flatpak etc.
- Which are some atypical setups you have ever had?
I did use 7 on my main for like a few weeks once, came with all the issues of running old software on brand new hardware so it didn't last long but I haven't done much else other than hackintoshing a laptop for like 2 days
- What is your favourite OS?
Windows 7.
I don't have anything else to say that hasn't been said a bazillion times already, it's just not viable for a daily driver anymore
In a fantasy land where windows was still exactly the same as 7 with only improvements upon it I would've never moved to linux there's no doubt about it
- Are there any weird/unpopular OSs that you would like to talk about?
Haiku.
It's honestly really nice to use and it's workflow is unique and strangely intuitive, I don't have much else to say you obviously can't do much on it
- What about servers?
I have never done server work
- And what about smartphones?
I wasn't allowed a phone up untill my mid teens so I never had any pre-smartphone era phones for myself but I have used some that I have no idea what their os are, my devices always had android so I guess I started with android 4.4.4 kitkat.
I don't like android 12 and after material you that much but I've gotten used to it
About the lack of apple stuff, unfortunately I don't think I will ever try or want to try IOS or any modern Mac simply cause I can't afford such thing as a student living in a country with abhorent living conditions and no way to make enough income for luxuries like this. Their way of things just like microsoft's doesn't go well with what I believe software/hardware should be anyway.
Unrelated. 200th post
Oooh I completely forgot about Haiku OS! I dualbooted that on my Thinkpad x201 with Debian before I wiped it to try Hackintoshing it. It really is cute but it didn't really jive super well with the overall hardware of the system but I do want to mess with it again someday.
Also in hindsight Windows 10 RTM is actually the best version of Windows 10 because you can do his:
Also in hindsight Windows 10 RTM is actually the best version of Windows 10 because you can do his:
I've daily driven every Windows version since 98SE with the only exceptions being ME and 8.0 if you count 8.0 as distinct from 8.1. Oh and I haven't daily'd 11 yet, not sure how eager I am to do so but if my tower is ever upgraded to newer hardware it'd prob be a "might as well" thing. Even though I never daily drove them, I have used 8.0 and ME in the wild, as well as 95, 98FE and even Windows for Workgroups 3.11 on either extended family's computers or school computers. Initially started off with house computers, first our 98SE build that my moms friend built for us, then an XP build from a local computer shop when the former started choking on a network card we tried adding. At some point, one of our roommates got viruses from porn on the XP computer and blamed it on me so I ended up with my own 2000 computer. Eventually this got traded in along with another 2000 computer my dad was given and had replaced with an XP Gateway and I got my own XP computer from the same computer shop. Few years later I got a laptop for christmas that had Vista, which I daily drove right up until I somehow filled the drive and windows borked super hard at which point I put the Windows 7 RC on it which I daily drove until the RTM build was out. Eventually I got interested in having a gaming computer so I started messing with desktops again, most of which ran XP but I'd sometimes dabble with Vista or 7 on them. Come 2010, I finally had real hardware and I decided to go with Vista on it for some reason, I think it was the easiest to reach burned DVD at that time. That computer had all kinds of wacky configs at points including at one point me quadbooting XP, Vista, 7 and Kubuntu. This didn't last too long and I eventually settled on just sticking with 7. Then my dad junked out a best buy computer and gave me its replacement as he had a custom build now, so I ended up piecing that thing together into the daily driver I hated the most, that thing only ran 7 and I was always itching to get off of it. I eventually also got a laptop that came with 7 which I pmuch kept it on until 10 came out, at which point I put 10 on it on RTM day. I fucking hated 10 and I think I reverted it back to 7. Then I built my current tower, and because there was only 2 USB 2.0 ports taken up by my keyboard and mouse and I didn't feel like fucking with textmode drivers, I installed 8.1 on it. After dialing in 8.1, it was so much smoother running that I switched my laptop to it too. I maintained this setup until 2020 when I got an nvme drive and again not wanting to fuck with textmode drivers I gave 10 another go. I will say 10 1909 was a lot fucking better and i set the max update delays so I wouldnt have to get bent over by shit, and it's stable? i guess. Still not the biggest fan of it, but I begrudgingly tolerate it.
I briefly brought up Kubuntu in my windows history, but I've made a couple other attempts at linux with varying degrees of failure. First attempt was with Ubuntu 8.04, which was decent enough but I ran into needing to run a Windows application a few too many times to want to stick with it and I wasn't smart enough to WINE yet. Second attempt was iirc Ubuntu 10.04? maybe 10.10? The one with the fancy social shit in it. I themed it to look like Windows XP and had WINE working on it, but again ran into needing an application I couldnt get running correctly so I was back to windows. Then my quadboot which borked completely unrelated to Kubuntu. And then way later I tried running a gaggle of different distros on my one laptop which always ended in some issue requiring terminal knowledge and I was just like "fuck it". Maybe it's better now, but I feel like I've given it as many fair shakes as I could muster.
As for Macs, I'm quite new to this world at least as far as daily driving. I've used old iMacs running OS 8/9 before in the wild, and OS X macs at like stores or whatnot, but my first real experience with OS X was high school science class had MacBooks running Leopard (or maybe Snow Leopard, cant remember for certain). Then I had iMacs running initially Snow Leopard and then Mavericks in my college video class. Besides those and doing some stuff on my dads friend's macs running whatever was current at the time, I pmuch didn't have my own mac until my ex graciously gifted me an imac g5. I did even briefly end up daily driving it when my desktop's power supply failed right during the parts shortage. At that point since power supplies were unobtanium, I ended up getting a 2011 imac which updated to high sierra and used that as a daily driver until I could get a power supply. Then last summer while my family was visiting, we went thrifting and I got the 2011 MacBook Pro I'm daily driving now. I tried Ventura but settled on Monterey as my daily system which was great until an OpenCore update fucked something up and the only way I could fix it without having to back up and wipe everything was to upgrade to Sonoma so now I daily drive Sonoma.
I briefly brought up Kubuntu in my windows history, but I've made a couple other attempts at linux with varying degrees of failure. First attempt was with Ubuntu 8.04, which was decent enough but I ran into needing to run a Windows application a few too many times to want to stick with it and I wasn't smart enough to WINE yet. Second attempt was iirc Ubuntu 10.04? maybe 10.10? The one with the fancy social shit in it. I themed it to look like Windows XP and had WINE working on it, but again ran into needing an application I couldnt get running correctly so I was back to windows. Then my quadboot which borked completely unrelated to Kubuntu. And then way later I tried running a gaggle of different distros on my one laptop which always ended in some issue requiring terminal knowledge and I was just like "fuck it". Maybe it's better now, but I feel like I've given it as many fair shakes as I could muster.
As for Macs, I'm quite new to this world at least as far as daily driving. I've used old iMacs running OS 8/9 before in the wild, and OS X macs at like stores or whatnot, but my first real experience with OS X was high school science class had MacBooks running Leopard (or maybe Snow Leopard, cant remember for certain). Then I had iMacs running initially Snow Leopard and then Mavericks in my college video class. Besides those and doing some stuff on my dads friend's macs running whatever was current at the time, I pmuch didn't have my own mac until my ex graciously gifted me an imac g5. I did even briefly end up daily driving it when my desktop's power supply failed right during the parts shortage. At that point since power supplies were unobtanium, I ended up getting a 2011 imac which updated to high sierra and used that as a daily driver until I could get a power supply. Then last summer while my family was visiting, we went thrifting and I got the 2011 MacBook Pro I'm daily driving now. I tried Ventura but settled on Monterey as my daily system which was great until an OpenCore update fucked something up and the only way I could fix it without having to back up and wipe everything was to upgrade to Sonoma so now I daily drive Sonoma.
Dying of boredom, I'll try it all...