Readers’ poll
Which OS are you most likely to choose for your next computer?
Thanks to everyone who took part in our poll across Facebook and X, and what an interesting set of results it is. Bad news for Chrome OS, but perhaps our group test of the latest Chromebooks will persuade you otherwise ( see p78). Good news, however, for virtually everyone else: macOS goes from strength to strength, that’s the strongest vote of confidence in Linux we’ve yet seen, while Microsoft remains the dominant force.
But it’s not as if everyone is wildly enthusiastic about Windows. We can almost hear John Gwatkin-Williams’ sighs as he wrote: “Definitely Windows. I’m just too invested in it to want to change.” This was echoed by @ToulouseTommie on X. “Windows, boringly. It’s for work, not play.”
Adam Jackson, however, is moving to macOS. “I have a Windows PC as well as a Mac, but every time I use Windows it makes me contemplate just how much a flight to Dignitas would cost so I could get some blessed relief from it.”
But we’ll leave the last words to Rachel Crowther. “I’ll be trying Linux as the bare-metal OS with CrossOver plus a Windows VM [for running Office]. I want an OS that will never, ever update and restart without my permission; I want a system I can audit for security; and I want a system that understands minimal mouse movement and where I can hack at window manager bindings.” Rachel adds: “It used to be that Microsoft wanted my money, Google wanted my personal data, and Apple wanted my soul. Now Microsoft wants my money, my personal data, and control of my hardware; Google wants my personal data and control of my hardware; and Apple wants my money and my soul. I choose ‘none of the above’.”
Windows. 30+ years of muscle memory and it’s good enough. Mike Gannon
Linux: a fast, secure, stable operating system. @gurnaik
Windows. It might be the VHS of the operating system market, but we know what happened to Betamax. Paul Bamberger
Windows for me. It’s still the most compatible with Steam and PC gaming. Simon Mellor
I’m just really enjoying my first Mac so will probably get another when the time comes – although I do miss Windows Explorer. Benito Aramando