MacOS. Works well for me from a usability standpoint. I work in software, and using iTerm2 with Zsh and a bunch of custom configuration increases my velocity for actual work and things I explore and learn on the side.<p>I think the UI is very elegant, and some of the software is fantastic. I use Omnigraffle and Omniflow for design work and tracking my agenda items. No complaints whatsoever.<p>I hook up an external monitor, and maybe the OS isn’t completely responsible for this, but I get buttery smooth 144hz. It’s joyful to work with.<p>Everything just works. I don’t have to solve 10 other problems to solve the problem I actually want to solve.
Windows due to familiarity. Although I am less keen on the UI after XP and esp. Win 8/10 but I just want something that is out of the box. I’m sure Mac is the same but I don’t have much experience with that.
Linux. I have never been able to afford Macs (they are already expensive and command hefty premiums in my country), and Linux performs way better than Windows in almost every one of my use cases.<p>I enjoy the customization and don't mind the occasional hiccup that needs some searching and wiki-ing to navigate. Finally, I guess I'm lucky to have used devices with very good compatibility out of the box so I've never had to fiddle too much to get things to work. I don't really have any reason or incentive to look elsewhere at the moment.
I liked using VAX/VMS in the early to mid nineties because of the built-in file versioning and the completeness of documentation (the grey wall of manuals). And the soothing amber glow of the VT terminal.
Linux, hands down, I like to experiment with different distributions.<p>I like windows because I like portable applications. Since I'm forced to use it at work along with Office I like autohotkey and VBA because of the ability for automation. I wish there was something, maintained, like autohotkey for Linux. I know there's bash but with autohotkey I can automate most software I need to use day to day.
ArchLinux<p><a href="https://archlinux.org/" rel="nofollow">https://archlinux.org/</a><p>Something more esoteric: TempleOS (<a href="https://templeos.org/" rel="nofollow">https://templeos.org/</a>). I used it a few times years ago, very weird but with some interesting features (shell JIT'd all commands).
Linux. (Alpine on most things with Gentoo on my most powerful computer)<p>When something gets messed up I can read the source or just rip it out and replace it (or worst case, re implement it myself.) I almost never end up "negotiating" with my computer when I want it to do anything now.
<a href="https://archlinux.org/" rel="nofollow">https://archlinux.org/</a><p>I love the fact that I can customize absolutely everything. The AUR (Arch User Repository) is also amazing and has probably every installable package on earth.