The Mother Board

For an OS that costs money, OS X!!! It is a very nice and stabel operating system that runs fast as well. Otherwise I would say Linux and there are several distributions that run well. If you are completely new to LInux, I would suggest Mandrake it is simple and easy to install plus use. Also has a very nice boot loader if you want to dual boot with windows. For anyone that hasn't tried Linux yet you should, it is in my mind much nicer than any windows operating system. Five days of run time in linux is nothing, but for windows everyone is very impressed. I had a friend who used to run his computer for 30 days at a time in linux without any problems. Basically, it is a very stable operating system that is very customizeable. Now having said that, I still have windows because there are so many more things that are written for it.

IMHO Linux is the best there is. I've had my Linux machine up for months at a time - never shut it completely down - and it runs like a charm. No BSODs and in my experience, once you have the machine configured correctly, if you freeze the system it's because you did something stupid that you KNEW you shouldn't do in the first place.

LINUX RULZ!!!!!!!

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"You can't go to Windows Update and get a patch for stupidity." - Kevin Mitnick

Well I dont know about yall but I morn' happy wit Xp Pro. I hava amdk6-2 550MHz. And it works like a dream more stable and less clusterf__ked than any other OS I have ever used form win 3.1 to 2000 advanced server

windows 3.1

Windows XP Pro... enough said.

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-Bob
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"Fish for a man and he eats for a day... teach him to fish and he eats for a lifetime."

XP is the worst operating system. Besides Mac OS X 10.2, i would say windows 2000 is the best. all anyine ever has to say about XP is how stable it is. has anyone ever thought that their computer would be stable with ANY op. system? the only proof anyone has is their pre-fab, made-in-malysia Dell/Compaq/HP. how about trying it with a computer that is COMPLETELY made from scratch? win2k is the best for that kind of computer.

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umd '11

XP is the worst operating system. Besides Mac OS X 10.2, i would say windows 2000 is the best. all anyine ever has to say about XP is how stable it is. has anyone ever thought that their computer would be stable with ANY op. system? the only proof anyone has is their pre-fab, made-in-malysia Dell/Compaq/HP. how about trying it with a computer that is COMPLETELY made from scratch? win2k is the best for that kind of computer.

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umd '11

Well, I am going to have to say that since we don't know what the future holds, that the best operating system is some operating system which hasn't been designed/made yet

As far as currently existing operating systems, I will have to say DOS!!!

Now, this might surprise many of you, but, allow me to clarify

If any of you have ever programmed for DOS, you will know that it gives your program 100% control of EVERYTHING!!! YOU try getting that power out of any Windows OS and you'll find you have to try some highly creative tricks to move your code from Ring3 down to Ring0, and THEN and ONLY THEN (because by that time, you have basically tricked Windows into thinking your code is part of Microsoft Windows), can you do anything like what you could have done in DOS.

But what about Protected Mode?, you might ask. Well, it is possible to extend DOS to make it use and run in protected mode, and it is also possible to make DOS applications which can directly switch into Protected Mode and utilize it. (What do you think Windows3.0 and Windows3.1 were???) Basically, all that needs to be done is simply design your device drivers, include them in config.sys, reconfigure autoexec.bat to load whatever window manager program you create (This will allow you to use DOS like a GUI), and then you can use this program to handle everything else.

BINGO, and you have the TIGHTEST, MOST EFFECIENT, LEAST DISK SPACE HOGGING, MOST POWERFUL Operating Environment possible!!!

Windows XP Pro is certainly very stable, but I've several gripes. One of the reasons it is so stable is that it refuses to run anything more than a couple of years old thus rendering about half my software inoperable...mainly Dos stuff I must admit Secondly, I couldn't run my TV Tuner, Modem or Tape Drive as there's no support. In fact on 5 systems I installed it on it only recognised one modem. The other thing I don't like is the reinstallation thing for any major hardware change. Other than that it's very solid , only a couple of crashes since I installed it. Love the way it'll run just about any graphics card without having to search the house for the Drivers CD . Just about shades it over ME I guess.

Pete.

Hey, there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with wanting to run DOS apps
DOS rules