The macOS version that most impressed you

[maflynn]

Do you mean Mac OS X 10.0

Yes

 

[Bungaree.Chubbins]

It would have been 10.2, the first OS X I ever used. Newer versions were incremental improvements from there, but 10.2 was leaps and bounds ahead of Windows XP.

I had a similar experience. I got a secondhand G4 Power Mac to see what all the fuss about Macs that I was hearing was about. I didn’t even look at OS 9, and put OS X on it. 10.2 was what I got hold of, and it converted me away from XP.

[Edit: corrected machine name]

 

[WriteNow]

preferred the OS 7 visual style.

I did, too. A lot if that for me, though, was it felt more like an old friend.

Taken alone, OS 8 was nice. It certainly was a million times nicer looking than Windows 95/98/NT 4. I felt like Windows was plain ugly.

 

[MarkC426]

It certainly was a million times nicer looking than Windows 95/98/NT 4. I felt like Windows was plain ugly.

This is the reason I decided to switch from windoze to Mac.
(I was running NT4 and ‘non-gaming’ gpu’s for pro 3D app use)

I felt working in windows was a chore and so flat and dull.
So I thought I would try a Mac (as my software was multi platform), and never looked back.

Using a Mac is a joy, no matter what application your running (it doesn’t feel like your ‘working’)….

 

[dmccloud]

For "classic" Mac OS, I would go with OS 8.1. For OS X, I would go with Lion. To me, Lion was the first time OS X felt more polished than a work in progress, and the Aqua interface got some much-needed (IMHO) upgrades and refinements that made the OS feel more polished.

 

[KoolAid-Drink]

Mojave. Solid, extremely smooth, solid, and honestly, the most underrated macOS version.

Runner-ups include Tiger, Snow Leopard, Mountain Lion, and Monterey. All rock-solid, stable versions of macOS.

If you want the least impressed: Lion, Mavericks, Catalina, and Ventura. All duds.

 

[loby]

Snow Leopard on my Mac mini 2009.

Came over from Windows, plugged in my musical keyboard…”it just worked”.

I sat stunned for a few minutes. Did not have to configure or deal with drivers like Windows. My mind was already trained from Windows thatch would take about an hour or more to get all my gear working before creating…

With OSX Snow Leopard, it took 5 minutes with no configurations.

I sat their “daze and confused” as I thought…

“I can start creating now…?”

Those were the days…

But…I would not go back. I like the Silicone Macs of today. 😎