OS X. And @autodrome a mac is not “obscene amounts of cash.”

My iMac works as well as it did when I bought it 7 years ago, without having to replace it and without annoying constant updates from MS that don’t work.

This is a religious question, and is really not founded on fact.

Both Linux and Windows are easy to the end user.

The Linux challenge is installation and upkeep, which can be challenging because they require more knowledge and effort than Windows.

More people are familiar with Windows than Linux, so getting help is easier with Windows.

But there is no “right” answer here. The fundamental question is ’ what do you consider important’?

The one you’re familiar with is going to seem the easiest. All the others will be confusing to some extent, because you’re used to a certain way of doing things.

Think about it like a car. What car is the easiest to drive?

If easy is the goal, go with what you know.

I have found Windows 10 easy to use. I’m happy with it. But I don’t know Linux at all. The Linux people I know are religious about it.

One nice thing about Ubuntu (a flavor of Linux) is that you can boot from the installer into the Desktop. So you can test everything out like Wifi, trackpad, ethernet, graphics and so on. If everything doesn’t work nothing is lost. Just note that it will be slow since the OS is on a USB drive.

But if Ubuntu works once installed it is fairly easy. My moms Luddite roommate has ran Ubuntu for about 6 years and I have only had to help him twice.

My mom runs Windows 10 and I have to help a bit more. But it isn’t nearly as bad as back in the 2000Pro days. That was daily phone calls.

Perhaps the best thing about Linux is updates generally don’t require rebooting. I have uptime on Linux boxes over a year that are completely patched.

Linux is to Windows what a manual transmission vehicle is to an automatic.

However if your main purpose for a computer is browsing the internet then there really isn’t much of a difference.

If Chrome OS meets your needs (and it meets most people’s needs) it’s fantastic. No screwing around with product installs, viruses, anti-viruses, updates.

I bought my mother a Chromebook. She has dementia and it is saving us both huge amounts of frustration.

Linux is free, about any app you need to use is free. When windows is hosed I usually use a bootable linux drive to fix it. Linux will cohabitate with windows on the same PC. Most of my machines run both. Why not try them both and see which ypu like? I find having a dual-boot arrangement with a shared data partition or drive to be best. I never did like any of that vm shit but it may be better now. Macs are way overpriced but good machines. This is a statement of fact and not an opinion. To those who refuse to believe the empirical evidence you may find an explanation of how a mac is cheaper or a better value over at the creation museum.

I prefer Linux to Windows, and if you mainly just run a web browser then it can be easier than Windows. Windows 10, Vista and Me are my least favorite versions of Windows. I despise Windows 10 in a variety of ways. But they are different, there are lots of games for Windows, and Linux is more for people who understand computers while Windows is designed to try to be idiot-proof.

Macs are way overpriced but good machines.

The resale value helps offset the cost of a new Mac.

A 5 year old Mac Mini i5 8GB sells for $400 to $500 today.

A PC like that might be worth $100 if you can find a buyer.

Why would anyone by a five year old computer of any kind for $500?