what is the best operating system today and why?

CP/M, because it rocks.
Then OS2, just for the fun.

Windows XP because its been out for ages and all th software I use works with it unlike Vista. Less things go wrong with it, unlike Vista... Hopefully Windows 7 wont be such a fail. I know a guy who works for Microsoft and he said its pretty good so we will just have to see....

Too many factors and requirements. A gamer might say xp, a graphic designer might say osx, a programmer might give you a unix/linux flavor.

I've always been happy with xp and ubuntu

Windows XP SPs.
No problems with soft and games, that i need.

Originally Posted by uzumakiluffy

what is the best operating system today and why?

It depends on what you are using the OS for. Now you did not say what your plans are, so lets give a basic run down.

If you have a basic workstation, or gaming computer - windows XP

If you do a lot of graphics, go with a MAC. But why not go with a mac just for the fun of it?

For a small office server - some form of windows server. Maybe windows 2000 or 2003.

For a medium sized server, web server or email server - some form of linux should do. Red Hat, SUSE, CentOS, Ubuntu,,,,, There are so many flavors of linux it would be almost impossible to name them all.

For a large server, where you might have over 10,000 people connected at one time, I suggest some from IBM or Sun microsystems.

But then again, linux is gaining ground in the workstation market. I have read lots of good reviews on Ubuntu linux. So if you need a simple solution for the kids to do their homework, I would suggest Ubuntu Linux with Open Office.

For basic needs, Windows XP is good. But I hear some people say that the new windows 7 Beta is even better than XP. Hopefully, they would come with a standard version of it which would be better than XP. And forget about windows vista although it is not as buggy as it used to be when they first introduced it.

Windows is always good for most of the users... and experienced users prefer Unix (linux etc).

I myself haven't had much problem with Vista. Granted, I like XP the best, but Vista is kind of growing on me little by little. There are some nice features in it that I really dig. But for stability XP is your best bet, depending on what you are running with it.

Ask me again in 10 years when all the O/S's are obsolete and have been replaced by the new android operating system. based on the linux kernal so only good can come from it

i bet it's actually solaris or something on those lines