TempleOS. All other operating systems are sinful.

Mac OS. People say it costs more, but I am not paying for a hardware and then some software that tries to make use of it. Instead I’m paying for a well thought out product that just works.

I'd just like to interject for a moment. What you're refering to as Linux, is in fact, GNU/Linux, or as I've recently taken to calling it, GNU plus Linux. Linux is not an operating system unto itself, but rather another free component of a fully functioning GNU system made useful by the GNU corelibs, shell utilities and vital system components comprising a full OS as defined by POSIX. Many computer users run a modified version of the GNU system every day, without realizing it. Through a peculiar turn of events, the version of GNU which is widely used today is often called Linux, and many of its users are not aware that it is basically the GNU system, developed by the GNU Project. There really is a Linux, and these people are using it, but it is just a part of the system they use. Linux is the kernel: the program in the system that allocates the machine's resources to the other programs that you run. The kernel is an essential part of an operating system, but useless by itself; it can only function in the context of a complete operating system. Linux is normally used in combination with the GNU operating system: the whole system is basically GNU with Linux added, or GNU/Linux. All the so-called Linux distributions are really distributions of GNU/Linux!

I use EndeavourOS. I like pacman and AUR, as well as the fact that Arch-based distros are well-supported by most software. I'm too much of a noob/too lazy to setup an OS without a GUI installer though, which is why I prefer Endeavour over Arch.

Windows because I know how to use it.

Windows 7.

It was the peak of windows.

It was slick. It was fast. It was stable, and it was super easy to use. Never had a single problem with it, and unlike past windows OS's it didnt require regular reformats to clean house for stability.

Unfortunately its dead now, and Microsoft abandoned that approach and switched to a slow burn approach at walled gardening.

I use Linux now, have been for years, because I saw where microsoft was going when Win10 was in previews, and there was no way I was going to be part of it.. So I jumped ship as soon as EoL was announced for Win 7

Mac OS

It’s pretty, functional, and has unix underneath so I can use it the way I really like to.

Linux because Linux

MacOS, so easy to use that even 5 year old me had no trouble using it. Also because of how reliable it is, my custom PC running Windows has crashed more times in the past year than all the Mac’s I’ve ever had combined (since 2007)

Debian. Been running debian stable on 99% of my servers at work. And debian testing on the desktop, and daily driver. What orginally made me switch from redhat 7 was how frequent i ran into rpm hell, and how difficult it was to do an inplace upgrade. When i could just dist-upgrad to debian woody and everything worked, with a few well documented tweaks, I was sold. And have been running Debian on everything since 2002 ish.
It is stable, reliable, and dependable for the most critical applications. Truly the universal operating system for me.

Edit: forgot to mention that on the 3 desktop machines i prefer KDE. It looks and acts most similar to amiga os, that i grew up with.

macOS and I like that despite how closed it is you can find new features, commands, apps and cool facts any day, I am gonna start to log all the good shit it has because my brain can't keep up LMAO.

Debian 12 just overtook Fedora for me after the Red Hat debauchery. With podman/distrobox/qemu/flatpak installed I really don't need my base OS to constantly be the latest and greatest. And I sure love that debian is community run and has taken the step to include non free software.

Debian 12 runs all my servers. It's like the pinnacle of stability.

My answer isn’t unique, but Arch linux is just my favorite to use. I just really love the ability to assemble things exactly the way I like them during the installation process.

I also really like the idea of a rolling release distro, meaning no major upgrades. I just run pacman -Syu once a day and things have been great.

Lastly, almost any piece of software I could want is available in the official repositories or the AUR, and it’s super convenient to be able to install things right away from the command line.

Editing to add: My work laptop is a MacBook Pro and I love it. macOS is really pleasant to use and anyone who says it’s not is a liar. Apple’s user experience game is on point

I use windows because what i do most is gaming and just browsing. Gaming is just easiest on my windows pc

But i use a mac for school and i run linux on my gaming pc, because i put it on my sons pc.

I prefer windows because i just know it. Been using it for decades. So its easier for me.

But linux and macOS arent bad. They are just different.

MacOS is a bit annoying though. And a lot of apps for it has a subscription.. lol

Debian Linux on the server: all the flexibility I need in a server OS.

macOS on the desktop: it just gets out of the way and lets me do my job

Windows. Everything is straight forward and I can still make some custom or niche stuff work.

I don't like Linux, because a lot of programs don't work, and I don't want to create my own 3D application or DAW from scratch. Not worth my time.

I don't like Apple because the money I'd put into that I'd rather put to better use.

Whatever the fuck my brain runs. It's done a pretty okay job keeping me alive, and that's worth something, right?

I don’t have a favorite, use the best tool for the job.

Linux Mint. Just works. Zero hassle. Zero shitfuckery.

Paranoid Android back in the android 4/5 days slapped hard.

Debian 11 for my personal server, openSUSE tumbleweed for my personal use. Debian for stability and openSUSE for the latest and greatest of KDE plasma desktop environment!

If you did not recommend arch, you basically recommended poop on a stick

I used to use windows but recently I installed Linux Mint to see how Linux works and to get more performance for gaming from my thinkpad.

Been daily driving Pop OS with the Xanmod kernel for a couple years. Love it.

I've been using Unix in one form or another since the mid 80s, so that's pretty deeply ingrained by now.

I was strongly biased towards Solaris & OpenBSD for many years (Solaris on nice Sun hardware, OpenBSD on small machines) but both began to annoy me a little bit recently, so I switched to Void linux. (Also, there was ONE feature of Linux that I REALLY wanted - extended attributes (name=val) in the filesystem. Love those.)

I'm fascinated by Multics & Control Data's NOS (70s mainframe OS's), but that's for historic study, not actual use.

Will I get jumped if I say MacOS?

I'm just kidding, but I do like MacOS. I just find it more aesthetically pleasing than Windows and I find it easier to use and longer lasting than Windows. Like, I had to use my 2014 MacBook Air with 4GB of RAM for a week because I needed to repair my main Mac. Yes, it was slow, I couldn't have too many apps running at the same time, and I couldn't have my customary 20 tabs open, but it was certainly usable and not too frustrating.

Linux by far because of the customisation abilities it offers

Currently running fedora, because it is stable, easy to use and just works. Also, gnome is imo the best designed major, full-featured desktop environment that exists out there (even including windows or macos).

You might get a more tailored experience with window managers but im currently to lazy to set that up. I did use dwm for a time though, but it wasnt really flexible enough for me.

I'm glad you asked. How much time do you have?

Love how most of the responses are different distros of Linux.

1998:

Me: I’d rather be running Linux

Systems Manager: Linux is a day late and a dollar short. Novell is the future. Microsoft might be interesting too.

She went off to teach community college after she got laid off.

Windows. Because I can run WSL alongside the industry standard business tools such as Outlook etc.

It’s the best of both worlds for me.

Linux.

But of course I need a desktop UI too so that alone isn't enough. I don't have a favorite though.

Windows has a decent core and good core UI, but makes it awful with win11 UI and product pushing. I'm being pragmatic, not enthusiastic, using it.

Ubuntu has or had PPA for selective more direct and up to date software, but I guess with the newer package distribution formats (flatpak and the others) I guess that's not necessary or a comparative upside anymore.

The UIs I tried or used on Linux I never really liked. It was reasonable or acceptable at most. I wonder if there's one I'd like out there.