Rank the top 10 best OS's ever

Hastings101 · Feb 13, 2013

1. OS X 10.6
2. Windows 7
3. Windows XP
4.Windows 2000
5. OS X 10.4
6. OS X 10.5
7. iOS 5
8. Windows 98
9. Solaris
10. Android 4.1

Least favorite would have to be Mac OS 9(blehhh). Made the Windows of the time look like a futuristic operating system.

dumb terminal · Feb 13, 2013

1. Windows 2000
2. Windows 98 SE (it was marginally more stable than vanilla 98)
3. Snow Leopard
4. Windows XP
5. Windows NT 4.0

AustinIllini · Feb 14, 2013

1. Snow Leopard
2. Windows XP
3. Windows Server 2003
4. Windows 7
5. iOS 4
6. Android 4.2

Osullivan1 · Feb 15, 2013

I know it wasn't revolutionary, but I don't see why people don't seem to like Mountain Lion more when Snow Leopard is so loved?

I find Mountain Lion to be the OS that 10.7 Lion should have been, and it's similar to SL since it's main feature (though unadvertised, unlike SL) for me was stability. Though I loved the idea of Lion, it was way too buggy and I ran into so many problems with it. Since upgrading to ML I've had none.

Plus, I don't see why so many people complain about the 'iOS-ification' of OS X. You don't have to use the new features, they're there for people who want to use them. Features like full-screen apps and notification center would have found they're way to OS X eventually without iOS anyway.

simsaladimbamba · Feb 15, 2013

Osullivan1 said:
I know it wasn't revolutionary, but I don't see why people don't seem to like Mountain Lion more when Snow Leopard is so loved?

I find Mountain Lion to be the OS that 10.7 Lion should have been, and it's similar to SL since it's main feature (though unadvertised, unlike SL) for me was stability. Though I loved the idea of Lion, it was way too buggy and I ran into so many problems with it. Since upgrading to ML I've had none.

Plus, I don't see why so many people complain about the 'iOS-ification' of OS X. You don't have to use the new features, they're there for people who want to use them. Features like full-screen apps and notification center would have found they're way to OS X eventually without iOS anyway.

Apple also took away features in Mac OS X 10.7 Lion and OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, that some people have accustomed to, like Spaces.
Look here for a more "detailed" description.

A Hebrew · Feb 18, 2013

I have limited experience with OSes...out of the ones I have used, excluding mobile:

1. Windows 7
2. OS X Mountain Lion
3. Windows 8
4. Windows XP
5. Windows ME
6. OS X Snow Leopard
7. OS X Lion

Dr D Day · Apr 6, 2013

1. Windows Visa Ultimate 32 bit
2. Windows m.e
3. Linux Suse
4. Xenix (Microsoft Unix around the SCO times)
5. Plan 9
6. Jelly Bean
7. Windows 8
8. Windows 7
9. Windows 98
10.Windows 95

juanm · Apr 6, 2013

1. Mountain Lion
2. Snow Leopard
3. Windows 7 Pro
4. Tiger
5. Windows XP Pro
6. Ubuntu and Mint

The rest of the big ones I've tried (W95, W98, Lion, Me, Vista, NT) are too bad/not user friendly/too old to even be on the list.

Orange Furball · Apr 6, 2013

Revised list

1 XP
2 Windows 7
3 Snow Leopard
4 Tiger
5 Android
6 Windows 8
7 Ubuntu
8 Windows Phone 8
9 iOS (Any version)
10 WebOS

aPple nErd · Apr 6, 2013

Updating my list also. Going from the best to the not as good

1. Osx lion
2. Osx snow leopard
3. Ios 5.1.1
4. Ios 4.3.5
5. Osx leopard
6. Mac os 9.2
7. Mac os 8
8. System 7
9. Macintosh system file 1
10. Non osx unix.

Giuly · Apr 6, 2013

It may depend on the definition of 'greatest', but the stuff that went on in the 60s was kind of fascinating.
GRAIL shown below derails a bit from the term 'operation system', as this wasn't something intended to somehow patch together cheap hardware into a working computer, but a visual programming language.

Those guys were from the future. Windows 8, for example, isn't. It was already old when it came out.

ChristianVirtual · Apr 7, 2013

Nobody miss Tru64 Unix for DEC Alpha. or even Atari's TOS with GEM ?

Both played quite a role in my early years of IT fun

KaraH · Apr 7, 2013

BeOS
VMS
OS X
AmigaOS
MacOS
Ultrix (yes, I am a DEC fan)
DOS 3.3
Unix (thus avoiding the unix variant holy wars)
Linux (various distributions but I like the core OS)
CP/M

I really wish unix and linux were not so far down but I find it hard to figure out what to put under them.

AQUADock · Apr 7, 2013

1. Mountain Lion
2. Snow Leopard
3. Windows 7
4. Tiger
5. Windows XP

TheRainKing · Apr 9, 2013

chrono1081 said:
1. Windows ME
2. Mac OSX
3. Mint Linux (I just love that distro)
4. Solaris
5. Free BSD
6. Red Hat (still linux I know)
7. I guess I could say iOS even though its mobile. I really like it.
8. Ubuntu (pre-Unity interface)
9. Windows 7 (I really don't care for it but I'm running out of OSs).
10. Windows 98SE

And yes, I'm kidding with that first one!

At first I was like

And then I saw your hidden text so I was like

I can't really list 10 operating systems but heres mine.

1) Mountain Lion
2) Snow Leopard
3) Lion
4) Windows 7
5) Windows XP

ChristianVirtual · Apr 9, 2013

All those Windows ME and SE ?

Do you remember the meanings of SE and ME ?

SE stand for "Some Errors"
ME stands for "More Errors"

(Still not in the top 10 best OS; but unforgettable)

Tomorrow · Apr 9, 2013

I don't know if I've used 10 OS's worth saying they were any good, at least I haven't used them for any length of time. But here are my favorites:

Best Windows - XP, with 2000 a close second.
Best OS X - Snow Leopard
Best Linux - Mandrake 7.2
Best *nix - Ultrix
Best DOS - MS-DOS 6.22

Beeplance · Apr 14, 2013

Can anyone explain which version, Windows XP or Windows 7, is considered to be more stable in terms of operation and functionality? And why?

I still think XP is the most stable(after 3 service packs, duh...), but windows 7 looks pretty awesome in terms of stability as well...

roadbloc · Apr 14, 2013

Beeplance said:
Can anyone explain which version, Windows XP or Windows 7, is considered to be more stable in terms of operation and functionality? And why?

Simply out of experience, Windows 7 & 8 are the most stable releases for me. 8 especially, which is weird since it is still a rather new OS.

XP has always been lousy for me. I hated it.

ChristianVirtual · Apr 14, 2013

Beeplance said:
Can anyone explain which version, Windows XP or Windows 7, is considered to be more stable in terms of operation and functionality? And why?

I still think XP is the most stable(after 3 service packs, duh...), but windows 7 looks pretty awesome in terms of stability as well...

I think I remember that for Windows 7 and 8 MS introduced more peer reviews to ensure error-less source code (try to find a source; but yet not successful).

And yes: XP was ok for business use; Windows 7 is quite nice and I start getting used to Windows 8. Until now stable. Nothing compared to unlucky Vista.

markwiering · Apr 17, 2013

Okay, here is my list of the ten best operating systems ever.

1. Mac OS X Snow Leopard
2. Windows 2000 Professional
3. MS-DOS 5.0
4. Puppy Linux Precise
5. Windows XP
6. Windows 95
7. Windows 98
8. Windows Vista
9. Windows 7
10. Windows 8

And yes, I am kidding about number one of course.

PowerPCMacMan · Apr 18, 2013

Here is my list..

1. Mac OS X Snow Leopard
2. Mac OS X Mountain Lion - Yes, I said MAC OS X because it is still on a Mac.
3. Windows 7
4. Windows XP
5. FreeBSD
6. Mac OS X Leopard
7. Mac OS X Tiger
8. Windows 98
9. Windows 3.1
10. Mac OS 9

Rank the top 10 best OS's ever

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