For general purpose use, if you have to choose between Windows, Linux or Unix, which one would you use?

Answer 1

linux is a must for surfing the net windows is just not secure enough and it costs way to much. Also macs are too costly for the average home user per unit. Linux just makes sense, its cheap, powerfull, secure and very flexable

Answer 2

I would bet some money that some answerers have ONLY been exposed to Windows, which provides a biased answer of course.

I have had to use all three. My choice is, however, Windows also.

Reasons:
Unix - it needs a special type of mainframe computer. You can't just buy a x86 PC and install Unix. That is my understanding at least. So if you were considering Unix, you might as well use Linux, which uses the Unix platform as the core, but is more compatible with different hardware.

Linux- its main advantage over Windows is that it is open source and so if you're keen, you can customize it pretty nicely and it doesn't need defragmentation (details won't be provided here). However, you will soon realize that it COULD become difficult installing new hardware devices. Not all, but definitely some, and each device has different installation procedures. And not all hardware devices have Linux device drivers.

Windows: Yes, it has its problems. However, since you specified 'General Purpose' usage. I think it's easier if you just defrag windows once in a while, and be prepared to reinstall Windows once a year or so to keep it running smoothly :)

Answer 3

Linux.

Windoze software costs a lot more, Windoze has virus and spyware problems that Linux avoids. Linux is more stable, and I can do a lot more with Linux configuration than I can with Windoze. My Linux partition boots in 1/3 the time it takes for Vista to get to a working desktop, and I don't get the occasional error messages that Vista can generate.

I dual boot because I occasionally like to play Windoze games (there are some pretty good Linux games).

Unix costs a lot of money - no reason to mess with Unix when Linux is out there.

Answer 4

All my computers at home, except one, run Linux. The exception is for playing games, which is something Windows is good enough at, and certainly better than Linux currently.

The 'games' machine is only for games though. My wife and kids use a Linux box for everything else; browsing, IM, OpenOffice, playing MP3s, etc.

I've found this is the best combination of functionality and stability, with the least amount of maintenance required for dealing with malware.

Answer 5

Windows

Answer 6

Windows XP is still best because its the standard and most compatible.

Linux is getting more popular because it's free and powerful. Wine makes everything more compatible. Faster. Cheaper.

Unix isn't as popular and I don't know that much about it.

I use XP and linux. Young people should use linux and old people should use windows or mac.

Answer 7

not sure what the previosu poster meant by unix is unwieldy so choose linux.

Linux is just a specific implementatin of Unix, they are pretty much the same thing, but developed by different groups at different times.

I have Windows and Linux at home, and I find myself using windows less and less

Answer 8

I use Linux at home. It is easy to use, free to install and use, and is less prone to virus attacks. I still use Windows when I work or at libraries/friends houses. There is not a lot you can do on Windows that you can't do on Linux.

Answer 9

Definately windows. Linux is so confusing and ive never tried unix!

Answer 10

It doesnt do much good for people to answer who havent used them all. Personally Ive used all of them for decades.

I prefer Windows for my desktop computer. It has more toys and pretties and games.

I prefer Linux for my home servers. It runs more powerfully on less hardware than Windows does, has some toys and pretties games. And does Internet better than Windows.

I prefer Unix for servers at work. Its more stable and secure as long as its doing old standard internet stuff.

I prefer Mac for portables. Its stable and secure and very good for doing standard things (email, word processing, spreadsheets, browsing internet).