What Was the Best and Worst Windows OS For You?

[Solaris17]

Yeah, it's fine if you use it on a side box or anything, should even be OK to connect to the internet if you have good security habits, which I've no doubt you do. Only problem is, people demanding that it's supported as a main OS and that every program is maintained forever for it, and that... is a hard proposition if you ask me

Newer games developed with the PS5/Xbox Series generation already require 10 1809 or newer in general, and most devs have rebaselined their games to Windows 8.1 as a minimum, which is good, IMO, since you can take advantage of things like DirectFlip and all that just aren't possible on the old DWM.

You would be aghast at the lack of security hygiene users in this forum have.

Hm

Worst:
XP 64

Best:
11

I loved Me, Vista, XP. imo I judge those 3 specifically by the leaps they represented. I think most people love 7 but imo 7 just want a jump.

XP, Vista and 10 were more "jumps" by comparison imo than 7 was to Vista. I liked Me and Vista a lot, The one I had the most issue with was XP x64. I think it was the foundation of x64 computing as we know it (not itanium based) and I think if it wasnt XP it would have been some other OS that needed to suck. With that said I respect it for being the door mat x64 needed to enter mass market adoption, but it was an absolute mess.

I work in the industry though, and try not to hate any OS. Like carbs to fuel injection the march of time wont stop for me and I certainly wouldnt want it too. I welcome the security enhancements and overall feature additions OSs provide to the general public.

I could say its partially my job to be able to interact and use any OS that comes my way, but the reality is I'm just a good fit for my line of work because I personally hold the belief sometimes you just need to let go.

 

[Dr. Dro]

You would be aghast at the lack of security hygiene users in this forum have.

Interesting take on xp x64 though. I have fond memories of it, it worked very well with my PC at the time I used it, but I only tried it around 2009-2011 timeframe and it was very well supported by my X58 machine and GTX 200 graphics. I even recall installing it on a friend's computer once and they seem to have enjoyed it, at least I never heard a complaint

Agreed on the just need to let go sometimes. The OS I really miss using is Vista... but for every issue there is a solution:

dremin/RetroBar: Classic Windows 95, 98, Me, 2000, XP, Vista taskbar for modern versions of Windows (github.com)

Hopefully the author will make a Windows 7 themed taskbar soon, this one marries well with Start10/11 or OpenShell

 

[lexluthermiester]

You would be aghast at the lack of security hygiene users in this forum have.

I KNOW you're not talking about me...

 

[theFOoL]

had its BSOD issues related to AGP buffer size

Aw yes those days I remember in my 9800se

 

[GreiverBlade]

worst? i don't have one, even ME was fine for me (the only ME copy i got was gifted to me by my math teacher in secondary ), but i am unusually lucky most of the time : "everythings works fine" (Aside with Razer ... but Razer is [multiple swear autocensoring] but that not Win OS related )

best? well ... for now the better one is Win 10 but tied close with XP and 7
(i will probably have no issues with Win 11 even now ... but i will let the "Beta" test run till 2025 )

 

[freeagent]

Honestly, I liked every version of Windows that I have used.

98, ME, XP 32+64, Vista, 7, 10, 11. From 98-Mid XP I had crap hardware which didn't help things. Once I started getting better jobs I got better hardware, so the OS was not a problem, probably why I liked Vista while many didn't

I was running 10 for the last few weeks and just updated to 11 a couple of hours ago... so nice.

 

[wolf]

The worst is probably ME but I never used it, and as 'good' as it was for the time, I had a rough trot with 98SE, very fickle getting a fresh install to go smoothly and get set up how I wanted. Honorable mention for windows 8.

Best is probably 10 so far, but I really liked 7, and actually didn't mind Vista - but I've always had a relatively powerful PC for the era and vista ran fine for me. Honourable mention for XP for clinging on so damn long.

 

[lemonadesoda]

Since the question is “what was” rather than “what is” the best, then for me

Windows NT 4.0 Workstation = this was the first solid Windows OS i used, that was near bomb proof, certainly compared to the home editions of Windows. I have to admit i bought a bootleg copy in Singapore Funan centre and replaced my Win 3.11 with it, on both my laptop and my desktop. This was back in the mid 90s.

With that experience, and with my wish for solid rather than shaky OS performance, my next OS was
Windows Server 2003 for Workstation. Basically, the 64bit 2003 Server version with the server services off, and running desktop services. I stuck with it all the way until W10 was 2/3 years old and switched over.

I regretted the move at first, but am now content with W10 in its latest build and classic shell.

 

[lightning70]

For me Best Windows 7-10
Worst Windows 8
Currently I have Windows 10 on my laptop and Windows 11 on Desktop because
Windows 10 does not use the hybrid architecture of 12600k 100% efficiently. Windows 11 is also nice.

 

[bobbybluz]

Back when I was still doing IT 8 and 8.1 were giant headaches at the radio station. All of the News department PC's updated themselves (or so the story goes) from 7 Pro to 8. Massive chaos followed. I was off the week it happened but had to deal with the aftermath. Classic Shell solved most of the problems then came 8.1 and it was the same thing all over again. I retired before Win 10 and AD were implemented but I did make the first 10 AD master .iso before leaving. I never ran any version of 8 or 8.1 on my own PC's even though I have KMS keys for them.

 

[GerKNG]

Worst ME
Best Windows 10 (Windows 11 is in many things already a lot better but i'm not sure about how it looks in a year or two... bloatware, stupid new rules etc.)

 

[Lei]

Best: window 98, xp, 10 and 11

Worst: I didn't use Me much to agree it's bad. Personally I don't like 7 because I think glass effect slows the PC down, OS must run things, not use PC to run itself. 8 wasn't bad, flat style was ok, but why it couldn't login to desktop directly? Vista was mostly longhorn to me. I liked the horns in beta, but I didn't use the final release very much.

 

[Norton]

Windows 95b, 98 SE, XP, 7, and 10 (Pro)

All of the others I either haven't tried or didn't really care for them- original 95/98 ok but felt unfinished, didn't like Me or Vista, never tried 8

 

[lexluthermiester]

I regretted the move at first, but am now content with W10 in its latest build and classic shell.

You really should give LTSB or LTSC a look.

 

[3x0]

I've used 98SE, XP, 7, 8, 8.1, 10 and 11 for a short time. Out of those, Windows 7 was the best and Windows 8 was the absolute worst, followed closely by 11 and their interface/usability "improvements".

 

[sam_86314]

You really should give LTSB or LTSC a look.

Absolutely this.

I used to use a janky debloated version of Windows 10 Pro, but once I figured out how to get my grubby mitts on Win10 LTSC, I haven't looked back.

Back on topic, honestly, Windows 10 is both the best and worst Windows I've used.

In its default state, the consumer-grade versions of Windows 10 (Home, Pro, etc) are complete garbage. So much bloat and crap installed by default, and even more nonsense (fucking Candy Crush) gets installed when you connect to the internet.

By contrast, I personally think that Windows 10 LTSC 2021 is the current definitive version of Windows. The only crapware that's preinstalled is Edge, and as long as you don't connect to the internet immediately, it's very easy to uninstall. Hardware support is second only to Linux, even on older hardware, and Windows Update actually works out of the box, unlike all of my experiences with 7.

I don't have any memories of Vista; good or bad. I have fond memories of both XP and 7, and before I discovered LTSC, I would've said that 7 was the best. I actually don't hate Windows 8.1 at all; in fact, I used to prefer it to Windows 10.

 

[Vario]

Win 10 LTSC is the best for me. 7 Pro is second best. Don't know about bad OS. I've used 3.1, 95, 2000, Me, 98, XP, Vista, 7 Home/Pro, 10 Home, 10 LTSC. Me and Vista was not nearly as bad as everyone claimed.

 

[Lei]

Win 10 LTSC is the best for me. 7 Pro is second best. Don't know about bad OS. I've used 3.1, 95, 2000, Me, 98, XP, Vista, 7 Home/Pro, 10 Home, 10 LTSC. Me and Vista was not nearly as bad as everyone claimed.

Yeah I used 3.1 too. I actually read a book written by Peter Norton to learn how to play minesweeper no YouTube walkthroughs available at that time.

 

[kapone32]

Worst ME
Best Windows 10 (Windows 11 is in many things already a lot better but i'm not sure about how it looks in a year or two... bloatware, stupid new rules etc.)

Direct X 10.1 if I remember correctly and almost zero Game support.

 

[LabRat 891]

My Personal and Technician's opinions differ.
Ex: I thought Vista was 'bretty dang gud' on my own machines. However, as a Tech... Vista is easily my worst.

Personally:
-Best {98SE -tie- 7x64}
Most fond memories overall, and best compatibility / development.
(Related: 'for the lulz' I'm planning on dual-box-DDing a Win7pro x64 Dual Dual-Opteron + 'Not-a-WX9100' ATX build along w/ a Win98SE VIA-C7 + MX4000 ITX build. Still putting them together, but: I did get a 58GB P1600X booting via bootloader in the K8N-DL, and the MI25 flashed to a WX9100 and booting into win7x64 w/ older drivers.)
-Worst {Me -tie- 11}
Most memories of errors, and other than integrated-WindowsPlus! (IIRC), it was clearly a regression from the previous generation. 'Regressive user experience' is the same reason for 11 being my worst.
Note: I've only installed 11 once, and it was more than enough to tie Millennium edition.

As a Tech: (left industry to take care of family, early Win10-era)
-Best: {7 - all versions}
-Worst: {Vista} (most-especially x86 and 'Home Basic'.)
Vista Home Basic and most 32-bit OEM installs were always on machines that had NO BUSINESS running Vista. We're talking S478/LGA775 Celerons w/ 512MB of RAM OR LESS!
Vista machines were often more temperamental on LANs w/ multiple generations of machines, too. XP and 7 'got along' better, or at least were 'easier to fix' than having a Vista machine added into that same mix.
Yes, I'm still mad. I was having to service and *attempt* upgrading those "eWaste, in a box" machines into the beginnings of the Windows 10 era.... Ex: I found out the hard-way 2x times-over (w/ enough time-between to forget) that Vista-era Compaqs' PCI-e 1.0 REALLY will *not* work with an otherwise "fully backwards-compatible" and "Vista Certified" PCI-e 1.1(a)-2.0+ video card.
(side note: I only learned recently the probable reason on those Compaqs. -cheeped-out PCIe-x16 power delivery. PCIe 1.0, by OG 1.0 spec supplies less power. Yet, my Gen1 NFpro 2200 MCP K8N-DL runs a Gen3 Vega 64-derived card fine; along with many K8 - C2Q users w/ Gen2 and newer GPUs.)

 

[80-watt Hamster]

Me and Vista was not nearly as bad as everyone claimed.

Did you use Vista much before SP1? That fixed the most glaring issues, the biggest on the UX side being the adjustments to UAC. They also made some performance improvements to the eye candy, so as of SP1 you could reasonably run it out-of-the-box and it was mostly fine on any machine that met the published minimums. Tweaking eye candy settings made it downright usable. On release, though... ugh.

My experience with Me was bad enough on the university PCs that I never even installed it on my own machine.

 

[natr0n]

Worst was Vista.Then again it needed a lot of ram, but I never bothered to get into it.

Best prob XP with an x-fi card that was enjoyment.

 

[LabRat 891]

Worst was Vista.Then again it needed a lot of ram, but I never bothered to get into it.

Best prob XP with an x-fi card that was enjoyment.

That, brought back some great memories. I used to think the X-Fi Crystalizer on my PCI XtremeMusic 'was the shit'.

I've had the opportunity since those days to (practically) side-by-side (near)Top-Tier X-Fi*s and a Xonar Essence STX.
*Titanium/Fatal1ty and a DAC-modded XtremeGamer OEM
I've DD'd the Xonar STX ever since I slotted it in.
Of note: -the 3rd party drivers for the Asus Xonar cards offer a 'low DPC latency' mode, for audio authoring. I've had system slowdowns/input latency appear from 'sound card effects' in times-past, and have read about that issue w/ some of the 'newer' "Sound Blasters". Also, on 'retro' builds sometimes 'CPU overhead' becomes a problem.

 

[Keullo-e]

Worst: Win 98 (not SE)
Best: Win 10

 

[Melvis]

Best for me Windows 7 followed by XP.

Worst be W10 then Vista. Vista Slow Pile of POOH! W10......took 5yrs to become stable enough for me to use and when it breaks, it breaks hard!

I used Windows from 3.1, 95, 98 but never spent alot of time on them as it was mostly at School and we didnt have a PC at home (to expensive) So I cant give a honest answer for the older OS's.