# Your favorite Microsoft Windows version ever? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 30, 2013, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-microsoft-windows-version-ever/677524 "2013-12-30T23:36:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![James\_Toothpaste](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e56c9b/32.png) [@James\_Toothpaste](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/James_Toothpaste)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-microsoft-windows-version-ever/677524/1 "2013-12-30T23:36:21Z")
Just pick from the list… Mine is XP. Nice screensavers, backgrounds, and sounds. Also easy 2 use. ---
**Author:** ![James\_Toothpaste](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e56c9b/32.png) [@James\_Toothpaste](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/James_Toothpaste)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-microsoft-windows-version-ever/677524/2 "2013-12-30T23:37:48Z")
Could you move this to IMHO, moderators? ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-microsoft-windows-version-ever/677524/3 "2013-12-30T23:45:17Z")
MS-DOS 3.31 No more partitioning your 40 Mb harddrive to get around the 32 Mb limit. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-microsoft-windows-version-ever/677524/4 "2013-12-31T00:54:15Z")
That’s like asking “What’s your favorite cancer?” I use XP on my virtual machines, because it does what I need it to do. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-microsoft-windows-version-ever/677524/5 "2013-12-31T00:57:16Z")
Seven ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-microsoft-windows-version-ever/677524/6 "2013-12-31T01:02:51Z")
I really like Win7. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-microsoft-windows-version-ever/677524/7 "2013-12-31T01:14:45Z")
Seven by far. Each OS has been better than the previous. 98SE-XP-7 Managed to skip the duds. ---
**Author:** ![Werekoala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7993a0/32.png) [@Werekoala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Werekoala)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-microsoft-windows-version-ever/677524/8 "2013-12-31T02:51:51Z")
XP. I got a new laptop with 8 on it - still trying to get over the urge to smash the screen with the Fist of Death. (Not really, but it kinda sucks) ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-microsoft-windows-version-ever/677524/9 "2013-12-31T05:44:35Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > MS-DOS 3.31 > > No more partitioning your 40 Mb harddrive to get around the 32 Mb limit. there was also Hot Dog Stand. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-microsoft-windows-version-ever/677524/10 "2013-12-31T05:52:20Z")
Windows 7 is a fine operating system. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-microsoft-windows-version-ever/677524/11 "2013-12-31T12:19:43Z")
I’ve never owned a PC and never had to use an employer’s PC since Windows replaced DOS, so my experience with Windows is mostly emulators and friends’ computers, but the best ones were Windows95, Windows XP, and Windows 7 in my opinion. I’m ignoring the server versions. One doesn’t spend as much facetime with a server OS and it’s hard to compare them, not being a sysadmin geek. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-microsoft-windows-version-ever/677524/12 "2013-12-31T16:00:52Z")
I liked XP. 7 is ok, and what I’m currently using. I had to install a taskbar tweaker to get back some of the functionality I got used to in XP. But I like how 7 handles updates better than XP. ---
**Author:** ![Mavic\_Chen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@Mavic\_Chen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mavic_Chen)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-microsoft-windows-version-ever/677524/13 "2013-12-31T16:38:54Z")
Win98SE by far, although Win95OSR2 was very good. Best DOS I ever used was DR-DOS6 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-microsoft-windows-version-ever/677524/14 "2013-12-31T16:51:05Z")
Win7. XP was fine and 98 was fine as well but if I had to pick from those (pretending all were viable today), I’d still go with Windows 7. Like **Runner Pat** , I managed to skip the real turds. ---
**Author:** ![James\_Toothpaste](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e56c9b/32.png) [@James\_Toothpaste](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/James_Toothpaste)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-microsoft-windows-version-ever/677524/15 "2013-12-31T19:23:11Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Win7. XP was fine and 98 was fine as well but if I had to pick from those (pretending all were viable today), I’d still go with Windows 7. Like **Runner Pat** , I managed to skip the real turds. You mean me and 2000. ---
**Author:** ![Osiris\_the\_1st](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9de0a6/32.png) [@Osiris\_the\_1st](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Osiris_the_1st)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-microsoft-windows-version-ever/677524/16 "2013-12-31T19:34:05Z")
I prefer Apple’s OSX (any version), but XP and Windows 7 are fine, 8 is a huge mess. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-microsoft-windows-version-ever/677524/17 "2013-12-31T20:07:03Z")
XP, as I used it for 10 years. However I can see myself using 7 for 10 years as well. It’s the first OS I legit paid for and everything (although I was always proud of my copy of XP that I traded a boob pic for, via IRC). ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-microsoft-windows-version-ever/677524/18 "2013-12-31T20:13:05Z")
I never understood the love for Windows 98. To me it was Windows 95 + oodles of bloat & disk-directory-structure windows that really really wanted to be web browser windows instead. As I said, though, I only used them in emulation, so I had more reason to dislike the bloat than someone who had an actual Intel (or Intel-compatible) processor to execute the code. W95 was a lot sleeker. I used W95 (and/or NT 4.0 / Win2K Server for apps & processes requiring that code base) until XP came along. ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-microsoft-windows-version-ever/677524/19 "2013-12-31T20:20:11Z")
I have liked each version that I’ve had, except for ME. I think I’ve used everything except 8, and that’s just because I haven’t bought a new computer or felt the need to leave 7. Vista took time to get used to. I think it’s the reason 7 was alright though, I had already figured out the quirks from the earlier changes. ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-microsoft-windows-version-ever/677524/20 "2013-12-31T20:22:39Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > I never understood the love for Windows 98. To me it was Windows 95 + oodles of bloat & disk-directory-structure windows that really really wanted to be web browser windows instead. Don’t the versions that seem like minor updates on the outside still change a lot of the hardware interaction? I don’t know specifically about 95 to 98, but doesn’t each new version add things that the previous version didn’t support, such as USB, WiFi, and random stuff like that? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-microsoft-windows-version-ever/677524.md?page=2)