The 10 Greatest Versions of Windows, Ranked

[ravip]

Over the past 35 years, Microsoft has released at least 30 major versions of the Windows operating system. But they weren’t all created equal, so we thought it would be fun to rank the 10 greatest desktop versions of this essential OS.

https://www.howtogeek.com/717105/the-10-greatest-versions-of-windows-ranked/

[expatjustice]

"In the land of the blind, the one-eyed person is King."

There is no point in comparing which one of them is less bad. All of them are insecure inconsistent <deleted> sh***t.

There were a million other Operative Systems with much more potential than Winbugs and developed by competent people, yet somehow Windows became the dominant one. Sometimes it's clear humans come from apes....

Edited March 16, 2021 by expatjustice

[ravip]

15 minutes ago, expatjustice said:

"In the land of the blind, the one-eyed person is King."

There is no point in comparing which one of them is less bad. All of them are insecure inconsistent <deleted> sh***t.

There were a million other Operative Systems with much more potential than Winbugs and developed by competent people, yet somehow Windows became the dominant one. Sometimes it's clear humans come from apes....

Absolutely true. No need of Windows to prove that. 

Most times,  it's an insult to Apes to compare humans with them IMHO. 

[JetsetBkk]

27 minutes ago, ravip said:

Over the past 35 years, Microsoft has released at least 30 major versions of the Windows operating system. But they weren’t all created equal, so we thought it would be fun to rank the 10 greatest desktop versions of this essential OS.

https://www.howtogeek.com/717105/the-10-greatest-versions-of-windows-ranked/

I unsubscribed from How-To-Geek emails just yesterday, coincidentally. He used to have useful articles, but now it's pure click-bait, like the last one: "Do You Know Your Browser Extensions Are Looking At Your Bank Account?"

[RichardColeman]

I'll read the link when counting sheep doesn't work ! :)

[Antonymous]

I use Win 10 and Win 7 on different PCs.

Totally agree that the #1 out of the ten reviewed is Win 7.

Apart from my PCs that are connected to the internet, I also have one that is permanently offline and not on a network on which I store and do most of my important work and hobbies. That is something to consider if you want peace of mind of total privacy. I chose Win 7 as the OS for that and it has been bliss to have an OS that works perfectly, never fails. All backed up anyway, of course.

No comment on other non-Windows OS's.

[expatjustice]

5 hours ago, ravip said:

Absolutely true. No need of Windows to prove that. 

Most times,  it's an insult to Apes to compare humans with them IMHO. 

It's the truth. If you think Windows is anyhow safe, or stable, or remotely consistent, then I must say you are delusional. Windows 10 still has visual elements from Windows 95, despite them trying their best to make new modern UI designs. And on the kernel side things aren't any better, it's riddled with old (mostly useless) trash. 

Yet, it's practical, and millions of people use it around the world. Silly, but it's just the way we humans are. 

It's like smoking, we know that we are literally killing ourselves by smoking, yet some people continue smoking cigarette after cigarette every single day. Even myself saying these words, from time to time I smoke a cigarette too, knowing that I am damaging my health.... Jezz, it is really an insult to apes to compare them with us ????

[EricTh]

Microsoft Windows sucks until Windows 10. Windows 10 has this annoying forced regular updates that will intrude on your shut down button by placing in between sleep and restart.

Doesn't Microsoft knows that we don't need those annoying updates and it shouldn't be forced upon us. Even though I have put 'manual update', they still update automatically.

How to stop this forever.

Edited March 16, 2021 by EricTh

[EricTh]

4 hours ago, Antonymous said:

I use Win 10 and Win 7 on different PCs.

Totally agree that the #1 out of the ten reviewed is Win 7.

Apart from my PCs that are connected to the internet, I also have one that is permanently offline and not on a network on which I store and do most of my important work and hobbies. That is something to consider if you want peace of mind of total privacy. I chose Win 7 as the OS for that and it has been bliss to have an OS that works perfectly, never fails. All backed up anyway, of course.

No comment on other non-Windows OS's.

 

I can't remember Windows 7 as it was so long ago.

Did it start up and shutdown as quick as Windows 10?

If not, why is it number 1?

[expatjustice]

2 hours ago, EricTh said:

 

I can't remember Windows 7 as it was so long ago.

Did it start up and shutdown as quick as Windows 10?

If not, why is it number 1?

Because of stability. A fresh clean Win 7 install is the most stable thing you can ever get on a Windows platform, even more than Windows 10. Not everything is about start up and shutdown time. That only matters to nerds making YouTube videos, and it is heavily dependent on hardware, too. (SSD vs HDD, SATA buses, RAM, blah blah,...)

What really matters is the kernel, and Windows 7's kernel is the best Microsoft has ever come up with (keeping in mind that is still trash, just less trashy that other Windows). Windows 10 is still riddled with BSODs, Memory Corruptions, Stack Overflows, the Windows kernel is just a closed source pile of trash with a lot of useless poorly written lines of code from the 90s. Not saying Windows 7 didn't suffer from BSODs or any other such stability issues, because it did have its fair amount of them, but in comparison to any other Windows version it was way better. 

In other kernels(UNIX, Linux, Darwin,....) you rarely see such 'kernel panics', and when you do, it is mostly caused by third party apps which are written in a way to abuse certain system APIs in a dodgy way. In Windows you see kernel panics (BSODs) for any random reason you might think of. 

And let's not even talk about the unimaginable amount of private exploits that security agencies (NSA,...) and top-notch hackers posses for Windows OS. Here we are talking about full RCE (Remote Code Execution), they can hack into your computer without you even doing anything... And of course, they are unknown, cuz they are private exploits...... Crazy to think how much damage Microsoft has caused to humanity thanks to their trashy Windows..... The chaos from WannaCry back in 2017 where everything seemed to collapse, would have been avoidable had Windows not been used that much. 

[kokesaat]

I've used every version since I started with Windows 95 back in the mid-90's.  I've been using Windows 10 since MS offered free downloads of the software back in 2015.  A few years after MS offered their defender package, I used that exclusively and dumped my commercial packages.  On Windows 10, I've always opted for auto-updates and auto-scans.  The last time I had something fishy on my computer was when I was using avast.  Windows 10 is a big time winner in my eyes.

[ravip]

Whatever said than done, I've been using Windows since the version 3.1. ALWAYS installed updates as and when available. Never had any serious disasters and no hacker raided my bank account - maybe 'cos I am not a billionaire!

Workplaces used Windows server versions. - no disasters experiences there too for over 25 years.

I need to use a PC and Windows does the job perfectly, economically.

Just my insignificant  2 ¢ent

[canuckamuck]

The best thing about Windows is that you are not forced to buy any other Microsoft products.

[OneMoreFarang]

I used and installed every Windows version since 3.0 on multiple PCs. The biggest question was when Windows NT came out if it made sense to stay with Windows 3, 95, 98 and Millennium or to switch (early) to NT. Since Windows 2000 this question does not exist anymore, problem solved.

All Windows version were, not unsurprisingly, a product of that time. What was good then was not so good anymore a few years later. 

Except for very limited situations it does not make sense to continue with an old version of Windows. Software change, threads like viruses and other malware change, Internet usage and speed changes, and and and.

It's like comparing cars from each decade for a century. Except from the nostalgic value there is not much point now in using an old car.

[OneMoreFarang]

11 hours ago, EricTh said:

Microsoft Windows sucks until Windows 10. Windows 10 has this annoying forced regular updates that will intrude on your shut down button by placing in between sleep and restart.

Doesn't Microsoft knows that we don't need those annoying updates and it shouldn't be forced upon us. Even though I have put 'manual update', they still update automatically.

How to stop this forever.

Everybody who is connected to the internet and doesn't want to have security risks needs those updates. Accept it!

[ravip]

During my 25+ years in the IT field and dealing with 100's of users in varying degrees of IT competence, I have noticed one common factor - people who shout, condemn, complain and get overly excited and frustrated most, seem to encounter frequent 'issues' with their day to day computer usage.

Very often, when I go to their desk, the problem seems to have corrected itself automatically - I guess, there is some 'unknown force' tormenting some selected PC users...

[nobodysfriend]

5 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Everybody who is connected to the internet and doesn't want to have security risks needs those updates. Accept it!

Not the ones who use Linux . It is a modern , stable , easy to use OS by now . But it has updates , too .

No Antivirus software necessary , free programs for about everything , use it for 12 yrs now , it get's better with every version .

Try it , it's completely free ...

 

[nobodysfriend]

4 hours ago, ravip said:

During my 25+ years in the IT field and dealing with 100's of users in varying degrees of IT competence, I have noticed one common factor - people who shout, condemn, complain and get overly excited and frustrated most, seem to encounter frequent 'issues' with their day to day computer usage.

Very often, when I go to their desk, the problem seems to have corrected itself automatically - I guess, there is some 'unknown force' tormenting some selected PC users...

Keep cool , the solution comes alone sometimes ... getting angry only aggravates the problem ...

But there are days like this ... sometimes it is better to turn it all off , and try again a day later or so ... good days and bad days ...

[OneMoreFarang]

22 minutes ago, nobodysfriend said:

Not the ones who use Linux . It is a modern , stable , easy to use OS by now . But it has updates , too .

No Antivirus software necessary , free programs for about everything , use it for 12 yrs now , it get's better with every version .

Try it , it's completely free ...

Just in case you missed it, this thread is about Windows and different Windows versions.

Personally I have no problem with Linux. But then again I also have no problem with Windows. I don't try to enhance or fix it all the time. It works mostly fine the way it is.

[nobodysfriend]

13 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Personally I have no problem with Linux. But then again I also have no problem with Windows.

Good for you ... Which OS do you like better ?

[OneMoreFarang]

22 minutes ago, nobodysfriend said:

Good for you ... Which OS do you like better ?

Windows. And the reason for that is that I use it, also for work, since about 1990.

Obviously Windows 3 was buggy but it was still a revolution for people who used DOS at that time. I used to sell AmiPro together with Windows to people who were used to Word (not WinWord). It was like selling cake. Everybody loved it.

There are obviously other systems like Unix and all it's variants and lots of people use them and like them. I never had a reason to switch to any of those systems because all I wanted to do was possible in the Windows world. My first personal PC was a 486 with Windows NT 3.51 and 16 MB RAM - top of the line at that time.

I think what people like most is mostly what they are used to most. I.e. lots of people like Mac. Is it better or worse than Windows? No. It's different. It all depends on what people are used to and also for what they can get help. People who struggle with Windows and need help can get that help a lot easier than people who use Linux simply because there are a lot more Windows users.

[hkt83100]

Having suffered through all Windows versions since 1.03b (the Runtime version which came with Page Maker 1.0) I am a happy user of Kubuntu now for many years and I am not looking back. The worst ever were Millenium Edition and Vista.

[lou norman]

10 hours ago, ravip said:

Whatever said than done, I've been using Windows since the version 3.1. ALWAYS installed updates as and when available. Never had any serious disasters and no hacker raided my bank account - maybe 'cos I am not a billionaire!

Workplaces used Windows server versions. - no disasters experiences there too for over 25 years.

I need to use a PC and Windows does the job perfectly, economically.

Just my insignificant  2 ¢ent

Windows 3.1 introduced networking. Pretty significant u[date.

[kokesaat]

Not so sure about now, but several years ago, many of the expats in Udon were using pirate copies of Windows.  As I recall, they weren't 'entitled' to auto-updates.

I'd be leery of buying a computer in Thailand that doesn't offer a licensed Windows package.  

I've also seen a number of people running newer versions of Windows on computers with insufficient RAM or outdated processors.  

[JetsetBkk]

4 hours ago, lou norman said:

Windows 3.1 introduced networking. Pretty significant u[date.

Pity Windows 10 doesn't have an automatic spell-checker.

[fdsa]

> Windows 8 ranked almost the worst, between Windows 3 and Windows NT 4.0

> Windows 98 despite being a polished version of Windows 95 and simply a masterpiece of art in its generation, ranked below Windows 95

> Windows XP despite being a polished version of Windows 2000 and simply a masterpiece of art in its generation, ranked below Windows 2000

> Benj Edwards is a Staff Writer for How-To Geek. For over 15 years, he has written about technology and tech history for sites such as The Atlantic, Fast Company, PCMag, PCWorld, Macworld, Ars Technica, and Wired

Well, what else one could expect if article was written by the Staff Writer but not an IT professional?

 

But to be honest, I expected it to be a paid article with Windows 10 scoring the top rank, however the article correctly scored Windows 7 as #1 and Windows 10 as #5

Edited March 18, 2021 by fdsa

[JetsetBkk]

1 hour ago, fdsa said:

Well, what else one could expect if article was written by the Staff Writer but not an IT professional?

I unsubscribed from How-To-Geek emails a few days ago. They - the emails - are pure click-bait for his web site.

Shame - he used to be quite helpful.

[BigStar]

21 hours ago, fdsa said:

> Windows 8 ranked almost the worst, between Windows 3 and Windows NT 4.0

The Win 8 interface did it in. However, 8.1 was pretty good with a tweak or two. Didn't force updates on you, either. By that time, the damage had been done, however. So the article glosses over it.

I think Vista should have been trashed more. Maybe omit 2000, which had limited market share and rare use among consumers, and put Vista last. ???? 

[robblok]

On 3/17/2021 at 7:57 AM, ravip said:

Whatever said than done, I've been using Windows since the version 3.1. ALWAYS installed updates as and when available. Never had any serious disasters and no hacker raided my bank account - maybe 'cos I am not a billionaire!

Workplaces used Windows server versions. - no disasters experiences there too for over 25 years.

I need to use a PC and Windows does the job perfectly, economically.

Just my insignificant  2 ¢ent

Same windows is still the best especially after windows 10. If i see how many crashes linux people have and that apple has it share of problems too it just shows all things are bad.

However after paying for windows and windows 7 and 10 windows never was bad anymore always good never a problem.

 

What is a big problem are people who don't know what they are doing downloading <deleted> getting mallware with it and that is where the fun begins. Not a windows problem but a user problem.

[robblok]

I used to download a lot of apps and cracked / free programs. I don't anymore because with it usually came mallware and it was that what made windows crash / slow. Also if you don't download that kind of stuff and don't want everything for free and watch what you download you don't need all those anti mallware programs. Windows stays fast and clean. 

I like how windows 10 works i have seldom any problems, i also pay for office 365 and never a problem. I did have problem with illegal versions that i downloaded in the past. Also now i pay for my PFD program (use it a lot for work) and pay for some other stuff too. With the paid for stuff never a problem.

I understand that many people want things for free but those free things often have trackers or mallware so i don't. Also its different for me as my computer is used largely for business so i don't want to risk to much either. Plus windows is still the standard.