I've been a Microsoft OS user since the days of MS-DOS 3.1, on a Gateway IBM-compatible PC with 640KB RAM (soldered onboard), a 100MB internal MFM HDD, and an EGVA Graphics cart, powering a 14-inch CRT display. In the late 1990's I became curious about this new OS everyone called 'Linux"! So I tried several of the then popular distributions with no success, until I gave Mandrake a try. It booted for me, right out of the box, so to speak, and the only issue I had was with my Ethernet adapter, and I had that fixed following a few posts on the Mandrake user's forum from Windows 95 (IIRC). I've used or tried out more distributions than I can remember, after Mandrake ceased operations following their evolution to Mandriva, always dual-booting Windows with GNU/Linux.
Since that original Gateway IBM-compatible PC's HDD suffered a head crash, and by that time, the MFM technology had become obsolete, and such a drive was no longer available, I found a collection of computer components, including a used tower case, learning to assemble desktop PC's for myself, and I've never purchased a ready-made desktop since.
Today, I dual-boot Windows 11 PRO 25H2 with Garuda Mokka (heavily customized), an excellent Arch-based distribution. on all three of my PCs here, my current desktop system, my primary Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05 laptop PC, and my aged Dell Inspiron 5555 laptop that I inherited when my wife passed in 2019.
To me, the best thing about Garuda, regardless the flavor, is the system maintenance and management utility, Garuda-Rani. The majority of tools and utilities in Rani are GUI wrappers for Garuda's collection of command line tools and utilities.
Instead of ChromeOS, FydeOS could be better. FydeOS is based on Chromium OS (The open base version of ChromeOS). FydeOS is missing Chrome (the browser), but it has its own browser based on Chromium to compensate.
It runs Android apps, you can skip the Google account requirement, Linux environment. Now, normal ChromeOS also has these features, but you can install FydeOS on any PC/Mac.
Even though ChromeOS flex is available, it lacks the Android app functionality, forces you to use a Google account (Vanilla ChromeOS also) and has minimal support for Crostini (Linux).
You can install vanilla ChromeOS on PCs/Macs by the Brunch Framework, but it breaks contracts and FydeOS is way better.
I have the opposite split experience than most people I think. I also go back to 386/486 days of Windows PCs used at both home and work. But then around the 2008 time frame we hired a couple of developers who were Apple snobs and demanded that they be given Macbook Pros to work on. Management agreed and then the rest of us engineers chimed in and said hey we want them too. At the time those Macbook Pro laptops were insanely expensive and most corporate teams would never pay for him but I was lucky enough to get one. Now here I am eighteen years later and I never looked back, I've always used a Macbook Pro or Macbook Air laptop at work. I became one of those snobs that demanded one when I went to a new job. I think I can count on one hand the number of times I've had a Macbook freeze up on me in all of that time, they are just rock solid. But I'm also a PC gamer and I also just really like the Windows experience for managing the computer, files, etc much better on a PC than the Mac. I also enjoy the freedom of choosing my own parts and building my PCs to my exact customization. So I have always used Windows on my home computers. They're both great platforms.
Yea.......I still always like to remind you youngsters. The old IBM rule still applies. Choose your useful software and then choose your hardware/OS combination that best support this software. PC's in any form are meant to be "tools" to support human endeavour productivity - they have no intrinsic worth in either hardware or OS - AT ALL. Yes one has (like with all tools) a decision to make regarding RISC OS and CISC OS but all should be considered and evaluated. I though that everyone understood that the "swiss army knife" like MSOS is always a compromise solution but could still be appropriate given the cost of own specific tools for the different jobs. Yes all OS' that you mention are probaly worse than their previous generations and yes the "best, most useful" OS in the last 50 years was probably VAX-VMS (I still see nothing comparable) , but we still need to focus on productivity as the justification for any OS: even the currently available ones.
I've been a Microsoft OS user since the days of MS-DOS 3.1, on a Gateway IBM-compatible PC with 640KB RAM (soldered onboard), a 100MB internal MFM HDD, and an EGVA Graphics cart, powering a 14-inch CRT display. In the late 1990's I became curious about this new OS everyone called 'Linux"! So I tried several of the then popular distributions with no success, until I gave Mandrake a try. It booted for me, right out of the box, so to speak, and the only issue I had was with my Ethernet adapter, and I had that fixed following a few posts on the Mandrake user's forum from Windows 95 (IIRC). I've used or tried out more distributions than I can remember, after Mandrake ceased operations following their evolution to Mandriva, always dual-booting Windows with GNU/Linux.
Since that original Gateway IBM-compatible PC's HDD suffered a head crash, and by that time, the MFM technology had become obsolete, and such a drive was no longer available, I found a collection of computer components, including a used tower case, learning to assemble desktop PC's for myself, and I've never purchased a ready-made desktop since.
Today, I dual-boot Windows 11 PRO 25H2 with Garuda Mokka (heavily customized), an excellent Arch-based distribution. on all three of my PCs here, my current desktop system, my primary Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05 laptop PC, and my aged Dell Inspiron 5555 laptop that I inherited when my wife passed in 2019.
To me, the best thing about Garuda, regardless the flavor, is the system maintenance and management utility, Garuda-Rani. The majority of tools and utilities in Rani are GUI wrappers for Garuda's collection of command line tools and utilities.
If you're interested, check it out for yourself at https://garudalinux.org/ or simply download any flavor that attracts you at https://garudalinux.org/editions
I hope you're as impressed with it as I am!
Ernie
Instead of ChromeOS, FydeOS could be better. FydeOS is based on Chromium OS (The open base version of ChromeOS). FydeOS is missing Chrome (the browser), but it has its own browser based on Chromium to compensate.
It runs Android apps, you can skip the Google account requirement, Linux environment. Now, normal ChromeOS also has these features, but you can install FydeOS on any PC/Mac.
Even though ChromeOS flex is available, it lacks the Android app functionality, forces you to use a Google account (Vanilla ChromeOS also) and has minimal support for Crostini (Linux).
You can install vanilla ChromeOS on PCs/Macs by the Brunch Framework, but it breaks contracts and FydeOS is way better.
Interesting, thanks for sharing that - I will take a look at FydeOS!
I have the opposite split experience than most people I think. I also go back to 386/486 days of Windows PCs used at both home and work. But then around the 2008 time frame we hired a couple of developers who were Apple snobs and demanded that they be given Macbook Pros to work on. Management agreed and then the rest of us engineers chimed in and said hey we want them too. At the time those Macbook Pro laptops were insanely expensive and most corporate teams would never pay for him but I was lucky enough to get one. Now here I am eighteen years later and I never looked back, I've always used a Macbook Pro or Macbook Air laptop at work. I became one of those snobs that demanded one when I went to a new job. I think I can count on one hand the number of times I've had a Macbook freeze up on me in all of that time, they are just rock solid. But I'm also a PC gamer and I also just really like the Windows experience for managing the computer, files, etc much better on a PC than the Mac. I also enjoy the freedom of choosing my own parts and building my PCs to my exact customization. So I have always used Windows on my home computers. They're both great platforms.
Yea.......I still always like to remind you youngsters. The old IBM rule still applies. Choose your useful software and then choose your hardware/OS combination that best support this software. PC's in any form are meant to be "tools" to support human endeavour productivity - they have no intrinsic worth in either hardware or OS - AT ALL. Yes one has (like with all tools) a decision to make regarding RISC OS and CISC OS but all should be considered and evaluated. I though that everyone understood that the "swiss army knife" like MSOS is always a compromise solution but could still be appropriate given the cost of own specific tools for the different jobs. Yes all OS' that you mention are probaly worse than their previous generations and yes the "best, most useful" OS in the last 50 years was probably VAX-VMS (I still see nothing comparable) , but we still need to focus on productivity as the justification for any OS: even the currently available ones.