Which operating system do you guys recommend?

[ricardol]

Hey guys, I love a few of the Arcen Games just like most of you. However I'm curious as to which operating system you guys use and if you've had any problems playing the games on your system?

[Mánagarmr]

I'm gonna kill this discussion off completely by saying: The operating system you feel comfortable using. Me I've used Windows from 3.11 to 10, and I've never felt home. So about ten years or so ago I started learning Linux and I've used both in parallell ever since. These days I'm about 95% Linux and 5% Windows. There are a few programs I can't get on Linux so I keep my Windows partition around for them.

That said, I've had no problems playing any Arcen game on either Windows or ArchLinux. None. I had some initial problems getting audio to work, but that was just a configuration error on my part.

[BadgerBadger]

Yeah, pretty much anything works with Arcen. I run primarily on linux myself (Fedora).

[TheVampire100]

If you have time and dedication to learn a little about computers and ürogramming, Linux is probably more worth for various reasons. It allows a more free customization and is more "open" towards it's programs and stuff then windows. However, you can also make a lot wrong if you don't know what to do and that's why you have to learn more than let's say Windows. Windows is good for people that are too lazy to learn how to use Linux (like myself), also most big companies develop their stuff mostly for Windows, so if you want to play big games, you won't get around the fact that you need at least a Windows partition. I would never go to Linux because it's too complicated for me and more work than worth my time.
Linux has however the nice effect that there are little viruses for it because almost no one bothers with learning it, lol.

Mac in my opinion falls flat out in every way. I really love my IPhone, its the best mobile phone I ever had but I would never get a whole PC from then because what windows is to Linux, Mac is to windows. Pretty much it's the most closed thing you will ever find,t here are almost no ways to customize or work around the system and if you want to do more to the system, you have to "break" it which removes every warranty you had on the system (and computer ebcause they are tied to it). Apple does not want others to see in their cards and don't want others to work on their stuff, that's why they are so overprotective of it and do not allow anyone to produce third company hardware or software for it. Of course you can make games and sofgtware for Apple/Mac but these have to get through their observation process and their own App store instead of having it on your own website for sell. (like Windows and Linux allow), which means every game you want to sell has to give some sort of revenue to Apple. Kinda like Steam but considering Apple is the owner of the entire computer you have, a lot more greedier.
Funny thing is, big companies prefer Apple/Mac over Linux.

[x4000]

Personally I'm a big fan of Windows 10, which I know will not earn me much love.  But it gets the job done, and just feels familiar to me.  That said, I've gotten pretty used to OSX in the last 6 years or so, and it's definitely no slouch.  Going back and forth between hotkeys on the two OSes is my biggest complaint.  That and the poorer OpenGL support on OSX.  And the generally underpowered hardware.

Linux is something I have used off and on since the 90s, RedHat 5 or so.  For servers I want nothing else; I can't imagine running a windows server these days.  As a desktop/laptop OS, I tend to be a bit more wary because of potential driver issues, and program compatibility issues.  But Virtual Machines are able to run very hardware-natively on most hardware now, so for cases where you absolutely need a windows install on a linux box, you aren't limited to dual boot. 

I got incredibly tired of the dual boot situation years ago, which is what pushed me off linux more.  Now I keep a dedicated laptop for linux instead.  WINE is also way better these days, and can even run most Arcen titles quite well.  I don't know how it will do with GPU Instancing in AI War 2, but all our other titles are DirectX9.  Either way, the support for the new Vulkan API is advancing primarily on Linux and Windows at the moment, and in some places faster on Linux (!), so I see a bright future for Linux if that holds true.

The main problem with a lot of linux machines is that they are either something you have to build yourself (and then pray the drivers work or do lots of research in advance), or which are geared towards business users and thus underpowered for gaming.  There are a variety of sites that make custom linux rigs that are tested out and built for you, either in laptop or desktop form.  I got my most recent linux laptop from System76, who I don't mind plugging because I'm really pleased with their work: https://system76.com/

When it comes to windows, Vista and 8 are both terribad for various reasons.  XP is incredibly dated and a big security vulnerability.  If you want lots of RAM and such, then 7 or 10 are the ways to go.  I didn't think anything would pry 7 away from me, but 10 has.  I wish it wasn't riddled with invasions of privacy, but you can turn those off.  There's a full-blown keylogger installed by default, which is pretty unforgivable.  If linux had as good a feel to me as windows, and the same compatibility, I have zero loyalty to Microsoft.

[keith.lamothe]

I installed 10, then sawed off enough of its limbs that it stays out of my way while I get stuff done.

I prefer my OS's terrified.

Since linux now has native versions of Visual Studio and the Unity Editor, it's possible I'll make the switch in the next few years. My main concern is running into various bugs or omitted-features where the workaround is "use the windows version", but that should become less of a thing as things mature.

[BadgerBadger]

It's worth pointing out that linux's driver issues have gotten WAY better over the years. Once upon a time you had to fight tooth and nail to make wireless or video work, but now things tend to work pretty effectively out of the box. AMD for example has been putting a ton of time and effort into their linux graphics drivers; they are pushing code into the kernel right now to support their next generation of graphics cards which aren't even on the market yet, so a recent linux distro will be able to support the cards from Day 1 that they go on sale.

[x4000]

That's awesome about AMD.

And the native versions of Visual Studio have been a big perking-up-of-my-ears as well.  Still no native version of the Unity Editor quite yet, but that's getting close.  It's been in beta for a long while now.

[Draco18s]

I don't like 10 myself. No one will pry 7 out of my fingers, not even if I'm dead.

10, as an OS I don't think I have any real objections to. Maybe a few things that are leftover from 8, but not anything I really have to deal with (although the settings "app" feels a lot more like Mac where it hides things from you because it would be "dangerous" to fiddle with those things). No, my objections these days are mostly down to how Microsoft is acting. They've done some really morally questionable things lately. Everyone's always grumbled about how Windows tries to get you to use the built in browser (and how garbage it is) but this is worse. File Explorer now shows advertisements for Microsoft's paid cloud storage solution.

I'm sorry, what? No. That is not appropriate. How is Windows allowed to get away with THE feature that defines adware and PUPs? On top of that, they use desktop notifications to push other applications and services, like suggesting Edge because it uses less battery than Chrome. (Hilariously I got one of those "see what apps are draining your battery" notification the other day and Skype was dominating the list by a factor of 4. 56% drain compared to Chrome at 14%, despite 1/8th the usage time; right now for the last 24 hours its only double: 28% to 15% with Visual Studio in between at 17%).

[x4000]

Sadly: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2974057/windows/how-to-turn-off-windows-10s-keylogger-yes-it-still-has-one.html

[Mánagarmr]

I got incredibly tired of the dual boot situation years ago, which is what pushed me off linux more. 

Funny, that's the exact reason that made me stick with Linux.

[x4000]

I got incredibly tired of the dual boot situation years ago, which is what pushed me off linux more. 

Funny, that's the exact reason that made me stick with Linux.

I like Visual Studio, and all my other work applications pretty much require windows.

[Aklyon]

I don't like 10 myself. No one will pry 7 out of my fingers, not even if I'm dead.

10, as an OS I don't think I have any real objections to. Maybe a few things that are leftover from 8, but not anything I really have to deal with (although the settings "app" feels a lot more like Mac where it hides things from you because it would be "dangerous" to fiddle with those things). No, my objections these days are mostly down to how Microsoft is acting. They've done some really morally questionable things lately. Everyone's always grumbled about how Windows tries to get you to use the built in browser (and how garbage it is) but this is worse. File Explorer now shows advertisements for Microsoft's paid cloud storage solution.

I'm sorry, what? No. That is not appropriate. How is Windows allowed to get away with THE feature that defines adware and PUPs? On top of that, they use desktop notifications to push other applications and services, like suggesting Edge because it uses less battery than Chrome. (Hilariously I got one of those "see what apps are draining your battery" notification the other day and Skype was dominating the list by a factor of 4. 56% drain compared to Chrome at 14%, despite 1/8th the usage time; right now for the last 24 hours its only double: 28% to 15% with Visual Studio in between at 17%).

Same here. I'm not messing with 10 unless its on someone else's machine.

[Dominus Arbitrationis]

I don't like 10 myself. No one will pry 7 out of my fingers, not even if I'm dead.

10, as an OS I don't think I have any real objections to. Maybe a few things that are leftover from 8, but not anything I really have to deal with (although the settings "app" feels a lot more like Mac where it hides things from you because it would be "dangerous" to fiddle with those things). No, my objections these days are mostly down to how Microsoft is acting. They've done some really morally questionable things lately. Everyone's always grumbled about how Windows tries to get you to use the built in browser (and how garbage it is) but this is worse. File Explorer now shows advertisements for Microsoft's paid cloud storage solution.

I'm sorry, what? No. That is not appropriate. How is Windows allowed to get away with THE feature that defines adware and PUPs? On top of that, they use desktop notifications to push other applications and services, like suggesting Edge because it uses less battery than Chrome. (Hilariously I got one of those "see what apps are draining your battery" notification the other day and Skype was dominating the list by a factor of 4. 56% drain compared to Chrome at 14%, despite 1/8th the usage time; right now for the last 24 hours its only double: 28% to 15% with Visual Studio in between at 17%).

Same here. I'm not messing with 10 unless its on someone else's machine.

What version of Windows 10 are you guys looking at? On my Surface Pro 4 (Windows 10 Pro), I don't see any ads on the File Explorer, or any of the apps I use. That might be because I have OneDrive and all that through my second job and school, though.

[Mánagarmr]

Well, it's not entirely true that it's *just* for those people. It's more the fact that using Linux gives you completely different troubles than using Windows does. Using Windows there's usually a file you download that takes care of any problems for you, while in Linux you are kind of expected to know your way around the system and find a config file to edit instead.

That said, there's a huge difference between distros. Archlinux and gentoo are pretty hardcore when it comes to installing and configuring, while Mint and Ubuntu are essentially "plug and play" and a lot simpler than Windows.