What do you think is the best OS out of Windows, Linux and its distros, and Macintosh?

i would say linux. The fact its free and open source makes its potential massive.most supercomputers use it.
For the average joe, macintosh or windows.
If your a gamer, windows. If youre into music and apps etc macintosh is great.
Either is good for buisiness too.

I would say none are. They all can do the same things, it basically comes down to what programs you use. But any operating system has a program that can do all of the same things, so really it depends on what keyboard shortcuts you like the most. For my money, you can't beat FreeBSD, but GNU/Linux is a good alternative. I love Mac OS X, but not so much any version after 10.5.x. Windows is doing some great things lately. I love Windows 7 and I have hope for Windows 8, but I think waiting on Windows 9 would be a smart move.

Anyway, you're going to hear a lot of "Windows is good for games", "Mac is good for music/video productions" and "Linux is good for programmers" but that's all a load of rubbish. Each operating system is as good as the others for any task--with the exception of Gaming. This isn't a fault of OS X or Linux, but rather of game developers who don't make games for these systems.

All of them is the same to me, and it come down to what they have ( video card , ram card memory space). The one with the best one then I will say that is the best.

I am sticking to Windows 7, for this. Vista was crappy; I think everybody agrees on that. Windows 7 is -really- nice, though I dislike the lack of 16 bit support. (My fault as my laptop is 64 bit Home Premium, so no 16 bit support and no Virtual XP.) I see no reason to upgrade to Windows 8. I don't use Macs because of the lack of compatibility for video games... plus, I hate Apple. The programs that they release are insanely laggy. Never tried Linux or the rest, so I can't formulate an opinion there. 

I would stick with Windows... It's easy to use, and it's very practical for a lot of things besides games.

Windows XP FTW

I think it depends on what you use it for. I'm a gamer so I think Windows is best.
And I have to disagree with Ktanaqui, I use Windows Vista Ultimate 64 bit and it runs perfectly.

I think it really depends on the individual user. I dual boot Windows 7 and a derivative of Ubuntu on my main computer for example. It is easy to understand why Windows enjoys its position, though I think Linux will catch up and perhaps displace it some day. But really, who knows?

As an IT tech-in-training I am pretty excited to test out Windows 8, but only after it has been out for a while. Maybe after the first Service Pack.

For anybody with problems getting Windows programs, especially games, to run under Linux I would suggest PlayOnLinux or if you can afford it, CrossOver.

Lazlo Falconi :
That's not really true, Linux (usually, depends on your setup) offers by far the most flexibility for programmers, providing a much more effective work environment than the other two.

I'm not sure why people say OS X is better for music/video production, though, since that's not exactly a thing the OS itself controls, but I didn't use OS X yet (because I am religiously against Apple, but that doesn't matter here), so maybe there really is some kind of super-effective "apps" on it for creating media?
I wouldn't know.

They all have their pros and cons, so nobody wins in the end... unless you have specific needs that align with those pros.

Windows
Pros:
-Most widely used and thus has the most of the popular software made for it by developers (especially in the area of gaming)
-Has the most support available for it

Cons:
-Uses a registry system, making it easy for hackers to infect your system with viruses and other malware
-Expensive to buy as a stand-alone install
-Microsoft's greed has caused them to take bribes from anti-virus software companies in exchange for keeping their OS susceptible to viruses

Other:
-User-friendly enough that computer illiterate people can usually make it work
-Not too difficult for computer savvy individuals to enable advanced options, find hidden locations, and get more out of their use of the OS

Mac
Pros:
-Extremely user-friendly... any idiot can use a Mac
-Viruses have little-to-no effect on the system outside of the one program their attached to. Just delete that program and you're free of the virus
-It's not widely used enough for hackers to go through the effort of trying to damage Mac systems
-Doesn't cost an arm and a leg to upgrade the OS
-Provides many free apps that can potentially be useful (I think)

Cons:
-Developers don't make a whole lot for it, so using your favorite programs or playing your favorite games becomes a challenge
-Even people with extensive computer knowledge have trouble doing anything remotely advanced in Mac as the system is designed to seal everything away from users
-Can't run on a non-Mac machine (to my knowledge)

Other:
-Mac machines tend to come with some pretty beefy hardware, making them good for video and graphics (but this isn't an OS thing)
-At the same time, this makes them more expensive than PCs... even when the PC has the same or equivalent hardware inside. (still not an OS thing)
-Is at least based in a Unix kernel, so it's maybe more stable than Windows (but not as stable as Linux)

Linux
Pros:
-A very clean and stable OS that runs more efficiently than others
-Open source and extremely customizable
-Easily the best system for hosting web servers
-Provides a better environment for programmers
-Also isn't susceptible to viruses or hacking due to the lack of care by hackers and lack of registry system in the OS
-Can easily be obtained for free

Cons:
-Has even less developer support than Mac. Many programs have been ported... but game developers don't even acknowledge the existence of Linux
-Extremely user unfriendly... it's not really an OS for regular people
-Uses command line input to so much as install programs onto it
-Doesn't really have much comprehensive support, so trying to figure out how to do anything useful with it can be a challenge.

Other:
-Can be re-purposed/re-skinned to provide a more familiar-looking experience to Windows or Mac users... though this is deceptive because the OS will not work the same way they're used to even if it looks the same.
-Some versions (like Ubuntu/Kubuntu) have assistance with installing popular software... though you're on your own for stuff they don't cover.

Crazy Li :
While I agree with pretty much all of your points, Macs coming with "beefy hardware" may be true in and on itself... but you can get that same beefy hardware for the exact same price, if not lower for any machine that isn't a Mac, although a lot people like to believe Macs are generally overpriced.
Which they aren't, at least not in their standard model.

Where Apple however really starts to suck the money out of your wallet is when you try to customize your hardware and/or upgrade it, they take up to 4 times the normal market price for certain parts, 2GB RAM extra cost $500 extra!
You would be insane if you bought 2GB RAM for that much.

Now, you'd probably just buy your parts from somewhere else, but what is that strange sensation?
Is that the feeling of your warranty going void?

leod :

This is correct. Upgrades are were Mac really breaks the bank. They try to at least have somewhat reaonable pricing for base models. Still I remember a friend who was talking about $800 for a Macbook being a really great deal an I see laptops for $400 all the time...

Crazy Li : I feel like you've never used a Mac before, because you're pretty much wrong on every account. There are plenty of viruses for OS X, and some of them can be pretty devastating.

Also, when you say you can't get your favorite apps for it... This just isn't true. All of the most widely used programs, except for Internet Explorer are available for Mac, and even less popular programs still have equivalents on Mac.

But the two things you said that irk me the most are the "Features are hidden away" thing, and the idea that Linux is more stable than Unix... Go > Applications > Terminal. Play around and learn something. And in any case OS X is based on Darwin, a FreeBSD fork which is (mostly) unrelated (Though binary compatible) with UNIX.

leod :

Well, yes and no. Linux isn't really better for programmers, but you're right, there are more tools available for programmers. But if you'll notice, my post said that it all comes down to what programs you use, which has nothing to do with whether you're running Linux or Windows or OS X, especially when you consider factors like OS X's binary compatibility with Linux, and Cygwin and other ways to use every tool on other operating systems. Linux isn't better, but there are better tools on Linux.

Lazlo Falconi : I don't use Mac, no. I tried it and didn't like it, so I admit I don't use it extensively. The Pros I listed for Mac were what a friend told me who is a techie who's really into Mac and has been using them for about 5 years now. He insisted to me that Mac users don't hafta worry about viruses and really any Mac fan I've ever spoken with also uses this as one of the big arguments for Mac. Is viruses on Mac a fairly new thing? I know when OS X first came around, Mac was so unpopular that no one bothered to make viruses for Mac and I didn't think it was easy to make a threatening virus without Mac having a registry to infect. How does the virus do anything once it's deleted?

Also, I said that getting your favorite applications on Mac can be a challenge. Of course, this depends upon what those applications actually are. Yeah, some of the bigger software companies have eventually begun making Mac versions of their products... but MY favorite programs to use happen to be Windows only. I don't use all the big, mainstream stuff all the time. Some of the things I'm most used to using simply don't exist in a Mac version.

I stand by my comment that things are hidden away in Mac OS X. It is designed to be "idiot proof" which basically means hiding anything that's advanced so users can't mess up their systems. But it's really hard for me to figure out where this stuff is or how to do anything that's not super basic. I've talked to many other people (even IT people) who expressed similar sentiments. Mac makes it a real pain to do anything that's not a very basic function.

And when did I say that Linux is more stable than Unix? I said it was more stable than Mac. Unix is the most stable you can get. Linux is a derived from Unix though and I can't say I've ever seen Linux crash in the 5 years that I've been playing with it. I've seen Mac crash or freeze plenty of times and I've barely even touched it.

I was under the impression that Darwin was based on Unix, though. I know FreeBSD is qualified as "Unix-like". I tend to assume the "Unix-like" OSes are based on Unix, though I never thought they were the same thing as Unix. I mean Linux falls into that "Unix-like" category as well. To me, they're all trying to create their own spin on what Unix was.

I like Mac OS X best, but that's because it's what I'm used to using.

i think windows xp is the best cuz of it better for gamesing for people who dont have to money to builed or but a good computer but if you have a good gaming pc then windows 7 would be the best but i would go with windows xp all the way

leod : I say apple for music etc because typicaly it comes with everything you'd need, like garage band and video packages, windows dosent. For the price of them, you'd be as well buying an apple off the bat.
Likewise, windows for games because almost every game runs on windows. Games for linux or mac are hard to come by.

I think Windows 7 is the best because all of the computers at my school have it but I have XP and I've used Windows 7 for a lot of things and it seems to be a lot faster at everything than XP.