It talks to all system and external hardware, loads programs into Windows: Which OS Really Is the Best?Īn operating system is the software that makes your computer Operating systems most have never heard of.įor a blow-by-blow comparison of the two leading choices, Even further from the scope of this article are some bizarre and obscure We'll leave IBM i, Suse Linux, server OSes, and the rest for another day. In this mini-roundup, we're just talking about consumer operating Partition on a Windows PC and boot to that when the need arises. For example, you can run Windows on a Mac insideĪ virtual machine (VM) or dual-boot using Boot Camp. Limited, though there are ways around those obstacles with multi-boot setupsĪnd virtualization software. Particular operating system (usually Windows or macOS), then you're somewhat Of course, if you need to run software that only runs on a
Powerful in terms of hardware and software options as well as interfaceĬonveniences and utilities, while Chrome OS is more lightweight and runs on Of them come from gargantuan commercial tech giants, while one, the Linux-based Ubuntu, Though that's not a huge number, they definitely are options, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. The four OSes included here are the most viable options. Systems, but the choice you make can have far-ranging effects on your computingĮxperience. You don’t have many choices when it comes to operating