I build my own desktop computers, so I've always had a bit of fun messing around with all the different operating systems.

My favorite is Microsoft Windows, just because it's what I started on and it's what I'm used to. I'm using 64-bit windows Vista and Windows 7, and I'm quite happy with them.

My experience with Linux comes mostly from a few computers I built with Ubuntu. The nice thing about Linux is, most of it is free. I mean, the operating system is free, many programs are free....if you're trying to build a working computer for as cheap as possible, it's quite nice. With that said, the biggest problem I found is that, not all programs and peripherals are supported. Along the same lines, sometimes it can be quite complicated to get something to work as it should. Because of that, I just could never see a Linux computer being my only computer.

MacOS is a nice operating system. It looks nice and it's pretty easy to use, even when you aren't used to it. With that said, it isn't without its own quirks and everything Apple seems to carry a bit of a price premium.

All in all, I've really seen no reason to move away from Windows. Windows 7 has worked very well for me and it's compatible with just about everything.

The main setup I'm running now is an Intel DX58SO motherboard, Core I7920 processor w/ cooler, dual XFX Radeon 5770 video cards, four 1TB WD Caviar Black hard drives in Raid 1+0, blu-ray drive, Antec 1200 case and a 1000w power supply. Cost me around $2000 to build with Windows 7, and it's faster than I really need and has had rock solid reliability. (Even with both the processor and the graphics cards slightly overclocked).

To build a Mac Pro with similar features at the time would have been well over $4,000...and it still wouldn't have had everything my setup has. I looked into it, but I just couldn't justify spending over double for the same basic hardware.