What operating system do you use?

[Nines]

Noticed a lot of people here are saying things like "Missing out by not using Linux" and "Using Windows unfortunately". Also people saying "Linux is better for hacking".

I can't understand these comments at all. First off you aren't missing out on anything by using one or the other if it suits your needs, not to mention I can't think of a single thing I can do on a Linux box that I can't do on a Windows box. Secondly you can hack on any system. It doesn't mean that you'll boot into backtrack and instantly gain leet superpowers that allow you to telepathically own someone else's box. If you can't write exploits on Windows, you can't write them on Linux. Simple as.

I personally use Vista-64 on my main PC and Windows XP on my secondary PC. I use Vista-32 on my main laptop and Debian 5 on my secondary laptop.

I prefer Windows machines because they are better supported by a mile. I find it very rare that everything works out of the box from a Linux install (still haven't got the wireless adapter sorted out on my Debian laptop, it's been nearly a week, almost given up!) There's also next to no games for Linux worth playing and for someone like me who wants to play everything on the highest settings with my hardware I'd be wasting my time and money playing it through any sort of emulation suite.

Something in the back of my mind often makes me think that some people use Linux purely so that they can say they do. It's like people who drive hybrid cars and have to let everyone know about it. I mean if it works for you and you like it, great, but I don't think people are "missing out" because they don't use it.

[EZM]

Amen, Nines.

I personally have Vista and Ubuntu on this box. Ubuntu is like my backup, in case Windows trips on itself, or pisses me off for the night. I find Ubuntu noticeably faster, but the problem is, it doesn't really matter to me. If I could game on it, then it'd be great and I'd never look back, but games are my life blood.

[tgoe]

Everyone here has an implied need or desire to be a hacker not a gamer. The internet is built with *nix and not having experience with it is a major knowledge gap IMO. Windows isn't without hardware issues either.. one major one being that most windows users have to buy new hardware just to run the latest version that comes out. >.<

[flava]

I run Windows and FreeBSD. Boot managers ftw

EDIT: Windows XP. I can't stand Vista and '98 just isn't supported any more

[fiftysixer]

Personally I like Windows XP, but I really want to be able to fine-tune, tweak, and change stuff on my system. So now I'm using Ubuntu...ok, it's not hardcore linux, but it does what I want and is pretty well supported. Oh, and I don't have to run a million anti-malware programs

My home server runs Debian. apt-get is the way of the future.

And lately I've been playing with the BSDs - most notably FreeBSD and OpenBSD.

You don't NEED *nix to hack, but it makes things a lot easier. Especially if you're manipulating packets or dealing with networks. Plus it's faster, more stable, and as mentioned above, you can really get deep into the system easier (open source ftw!).

[code2004]

Windows XP kicks big big booty Meh, other OS are cool, but Windows XP just feels so pro!

[Schiz0id]

Noticed a lot of people here are saying things like "Missing out by not using Linux" and "Using Windows unfortunately". Also people saying "Linux is better for hacking".

I can't understand these comments at all. First off you aren't missing out on anything by using one or the other if it suits your needs, not to mention I can't think of a single thing I can do on a Linux box that I can't do on a Windows box. Secondly you can hack on any system. It doesn't mean that you'll boot into backtrack and instantly gain leet superpowers that allow you to telepathically own someone else's box. If you can't write exploits on Windows, you can't write them on Linux. Simple as.

I personally use Vista-64 on my main PC and Windows XP on my secondary PC. I use Vista-32 on my main laptop and Debian 5 on my secondary laptop.

I prefer Windows machines because they are better supported by a mile. I find it very rare that everything works out of the box from a Linux install (still haven't got the wireless adapter sorted out on my Debian laptop, it's been nearly a week, almost given up!) There's also next to no games for Linux worth playing and for someone like me who wants to play everything on the highest settings with my hardware I'd be wasting my time and money playing it through any sort of emulation suite.

Something in the back of my mind often makes me think that some people use Linux purely so that they can say they do. It's like people who drive hybrid cars and have to let everyone know about it. I mean if it works for you and you like it, great, but I don't think people are "missing out" because they don't use it.

But you see, when I think of "hacking" I think of someone who likes to play with hardware or software. When I look at Windows I see a closed source operating system that just works. You can do everything in it just fine, but you can't read the source and you can't really modify things. I will agree that Windows is a stable OS, but UNIX was built by hackers. As far as gaming goes, it's windows for me. If I want to play around and learn something new, I use Linux. I agree that an OS alone doesn't give someone abnormal skills or anything. I would just expect from a "hacking" website that more people would use Linux. I didn't mean it in an elitist way. I think I may just have a different view on what hacking is. "Cracking" and penetration testing can be done with any system though. I like to use Linux because I feel it contributes to the hacker community. I love the idea of open source software. Linux just works for me. I really didn't mean to be an ass when I said others are missing out.