Ranking of the 4 Modern Windows OSs

[chrisj1968]

lolwut?

NTFS pre-dates XP by many years.

to the masses. NT4 was known as a professional OS. I remember

[Hitman2000]

7 - Best windows so far, only one I had 0 issues with. everything installed automatically, new built system was up and running in about 20 minutes.

XP- just because of how long I had it for, best part of 8 or so years.

Vista- was pretty unstable initially after xp, but once it settled down it was as good as xp or 7.

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>Windows 8 (with start8/startisback)

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> Windows 8 (plain metro)

[spaceelf]

Windows 8 - speed and feature improvements, less app crashes, faster switching between apps when gaming

Windows 7 - speed and stability over Vista

Windows Vista - far less BSODs, self maintaining, self tuning networking

Windows XP x64 - Patchguard and culling some ancient networking crap

Windows XP - it technically works and works well, for a while. If you don't mind reinstalling it every so often and any app being able to screw up the kernel, awesome.

[NEVER85]

Windows XP : An OS that brought NT to the masses. Sure it's old but it still works just fine.

Windows 7 : An OS which brought some much need polish to Vista.

Windows Vista : Without this there would be no 7

Windows 8 (Does this really have to be on the list?) : Meh

Just because you and other so-called "power users" around here whine about it doesn't mean it shouldn't be on the list.

1. Windows 8

2. Windows 7

3. Windows Vista

4. Windows eXPired

[Circaflex]

8

7

Vista

special shout out to xp x64

[Simon Veteran]

7 - Clean, polished, usable, simple.

8 - Very promising, but it's not there yet - app developers haven't figured out how Metro should work yet, and I'd rather spend all my time in Metro or all my time on the desktop, rather than switching back and forth. Give it a year or two and it'll easily be at the top.

XP - It's old, it's not going to be supported forever, the UI feels slow and boring - but it's a stable OS, which is why it's lasted this long.

Vista - Honestly, a good beta for Windows 7. Not as bad as everyone said, but not good enough to play with the big boys.

(That being said, I spend 75% of my time on Mountain Lion)

[abecedarian paradoxious]

I refuse to answer the question.

I will say, though, that:

XP was an evolution of the 9x Windows line, and incorporated the NT code base into consumer systems. It was 'revolutionary', at the time, but is now old.

Vista pushed the envelope a bit more. In my experience, it performed most tasks I required just as quickly as XP, and was more stable. "GASP". My system here, not yours.

7 picked up some speed, but didn't like my Vista laptops much. :(

8 picked up more speed and likes the laptops Windows 7 didn't like.

Flexible minds will adapt, stubborn people won't.

That is all.

[MikeChipshop Member]

1. 8 - Great OS that builds on 7's brilliant backbone with speed and efficiency getting a shot in the arm.
   
2. 7 - Solid architecture, fast, feature rich.
   
3. Vista - Gave an old dog new legs
   
4. XP - As much as i loved it at the time, it really doesn't belong on a list of 'Modern' OS's and far to many problems when released that it took TWO service packs to fix.
   

[Nashy]

XP isn't modern. It's old and obsolete. People shouldn't be using it.

[Matthew S.]

XP is not modern by any sense of the word (hell it still defaults to a full admin account...)

Anyways..

My choice is:

1. Windows 7 - Stable, Fast and modern.

2. Windows 8 - Stable, Fast, modern and user friendly I don't care what any "power users" say, when a 59 year old man who only uses a computer to do 3 things (eg. work, email and a casual game) can figure out Windows 8 in meer seconds (he actually found some things I didn't at first :s) theres probably an issue in this "power user" elitest group.

3. Windows Vista - Vast improvement over XP (It was actually more stable on a system from 2003 that came with XP.).

4. Windows XP - Really was a step back IMO after toying with Linux for so long. Never made real use of NTFS's ACL properties, always defaulted to a full privileged administrator.

[Nick H. Supervisor]

• Windows XP - Ol' faithful.
  
• Windows 7 - I'm still getting to grips with the changes, but overall I think I'm impressed.
  
• Windows Vista - I've supported it, but never used it as a main OS.
  
• Windows 8 - Nope. Just that. Nope. Not my thing, I don't want a tablet OS on my laptop.

[slumdogtrillionaire]

1. xp sp3

2. xp sp2

3. xp sp1

4. 7 sp2 hopefully

[+Anarkii Subscriber²]

Windows 7 (The best OS Microsoft ever made. Period.)

Windows XP (Used this for years, right up to Windows 7 release)

Windows Vista (Used it for a few months, but ultimately when it was released it didn't work as expected)

Windows 8 (Just a mess of a OS, tried it, hated it, won't go back).

* The opinions arnt trolling, but my personal views.

[ingramator]

Windows 8 64 bit - Windows 7 + so much more, it will begin the mobile revolution and be tidied up with Blue (which I'm running right now :D )

Windows 7 64 bit - The best PC OS at the time- rock solid but fundamentally the same as Vista

Windows XP 64 Bit- only because it began the 64 bit revolution and was a trusty OS that got stuff done- terrible driver support though and it was pretty aweful until SP2-3

Windows Vista - No problems with it but the others are just "better"- loved the new DirectX and GPU features

[Nick H. Supervisor]

Windows XP 64 Bit- only because it began the 64 bit revolution and was a trusty OS that got stuff done- terrible driver support though and it was pretty aweful until SP2-3

I think I missed that part, how was the driver support terrible? I know the in-house "find a driver automatically" was/is rubbish, but all the companies supported the OS, it just made more sense at the end of the day to go straight to the website.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

1. Windows 7
   
2. Windows 8
   
3. Windows XP
   
4. Windows Vista
   

[ingramator]

I think I missed that part, how was the driver support terrible? I know the in-house "find a driver automatically" was/is rubbish, but all the companies supported the OS, it just made more sense at the end of the day to go straight to the website.

Yeah I was referring more or less to 64 Bit driver support but even so, 32 bit support was pretty horrendous at launch, it took a good 2 years for OEMs to get on board and with SP3 it was pretty rock solid. Still, we often forget that XP had an awful launch and poor reception and it wasn't till it became widely adopted with the service packs that it took off!

[Nick H. Supervisor]

Yeah I was referring more or less to 64 Bit driver support but even so, 32 bit support was pretty horrendous at launch, it took a good 2 years for OEMs to get on board and with SP3 it was pretty rock solid. Still, we often forget that XP had an awful launch and poor reception and it wasn't till it became widely adopted with the service packs that it took off!

Oh right! I've generally supported and used 32-bit, so my knowledge of 64-bit support is...lacking. On top of which, I was a home user when XP first came out, so I got on with it. It was still miles better than Windows 98, so I probably forgave its misgivings at the time...

[MikeChipshop Member]

Oh right! I've generally supported and used 32-bit, so my knowledge of 64-bit support is...lacking. On top of which, I was a home user when XP first came out, so I got on with it. It was still miles better than Windows 98, so I probably forgave its misgivings at the time...

Yup 64 bit driver support was horrendous!

[Wakers]

1) Win 7 / 8. They're tied because if you don't throw a hissy fit over the metro UI it's a more efficient OS in terms of hardware utilisation.

2) XP. Bad memory management, horrible x64 support, although it was a revolution when it was released.

3) Vista. It was a massive upgrade from XP in terms of memory management and performance. Sadly, MS allowed manufacturers to produce Vista ready machines with horrendous specs, which lead to the vast majority of complaints and crippled the OS. There was also the issue with hardware manufacturers being painfully slow in releasing suitable drivers.

[+InsaneNutter MVC]

Windows 7 - everything just came together and worked, i remember reading someone say it was the best OS in the world and i agreed.

Windows Vista - it had to break things for change to happen, Vista gave us a good modern os with 64bit hardware support as standard. I also loved the vastly improved Windows Media Center. Vista was a vast improvement over Windows XP.

Windows XP - back in the day it was amazing, so many new features and it didn't crash every 5 mins! A rock solid OS which has stood the test of time.

I use Windows 8 as my main OS, however I'm reluctant to rank it anywhere at this moment in time. The only changes i really enjoy are the ribbon interface on explorer and the new task manager. I'm aware it boots up significantly faster, however as i have an SSD Windows 7 only took a few seconds anyway so i've noticed little difference.

Other than that i cant help feel Windows 8 was rushed just so Microsoft could have a tablet out to try and compete with the Ipad and Android tablets. I've personally never been a fan of the square tiles used right the way back to Windows Phone 7. Were stuck with it anyway, however as i do everything in the desktop anyway i guess its not too much of a concern at this moment in time... the hot corners and chimes bar on the desktop are very annoying however.

I guess if i had to say i would put Windows 8 between 7 and Vista, its better than Vista, however for what i use a PC for it doesn't really offer me anything over Windows 7.

[cork1958]

1. XP just for durability, longevity, and dependability.

2. Windows 7 for the same reasons a #1 except for the longevity, which is obviously only a matter of time. :)

3. Windows 8 just because it ISN'T Vista, but otherwise another POS because of the design/layout

4. Vista biggest POS since Windows Me!!

[Scorpian8867]

I'll assume "modern" means how I'd rate them by today's standards. So that's exactly what I'll do.

1. Win7 & Win8. I agree with Wakers. They're about tied right now. 7 is a very solid OS and easily Microsoft's best so far, but 8 is pretty much a direct upgrade in almost every aspect. If they had just done a better job of splitting the tablet and desktop experiences, it would be my #1 by a longshot. But for now, the benefits are offset by the oversimplified tablet UI that I just can't adjust how I want to.
   
2. Vista. I don't really hate it, but if it's on a computer I can control at all, I'll do my best to upgrade to 7 or 8 ASAP. It's littered with too many little things that just kill the desktop experience I want, and there's really no easy way to fix that.
   
3. XP. This OS honestly has no place on a "modern" OS list. I die a little on the inside every time I'm forced to use this fossil of an operating system, which is just about every day at work. It worked very well for its time, but that time has long passed. The torch has been passed, and it's time to move on.
   

[thomastmc]

At over a decade old, XP can hardly be considered "modern"... SPs or not.

Technology moves fast... 3 years is old. Vista is getting long in the tooth.

XP was an evolution of the 9x Windows line, and incorporated the NT code base into consumer systems. It was 'revolutionary', at the time, but is now old.

That was Windows 2000. XP is it's bloated and "consumerized" cousin. Windows 2000 integrated 9x and NT, and was a revolutionary and an amazing OS for it's time.

[Bamsebjørn]

Windows 8 - Takes some getting used to, is not really finished/polished, but the general direction is good: I rarely see the start screen, only to launch some apps which I do sometimes

Windows 7 - Just nice, works great

Windows XP - Not really modern anymore though... it doesn't even install on my PC because there's no drivers

Windows Vista - Started being good after SP2, but completely overshadowed by Windows 7. Also, themes were ugly