I would have to say that the best OS is the one you are happy with.

If you want to run down the virtual Linux route on the hardware you have, you need to fix Windows 8.1. The same goes if you want to downgrade to Windows 7 or Vista. Fix then install.

If you are looking for "hack proof"* machines, they basically don't exist. What you need is to maintain what you have to the best level you can. Which simply means you need to find something you are happy with make it work.

I am writing this on a Chromebook under Elementary OS, this machine also has Ubuntu and a version of XFCE. This is for amusement and paranoia reasons, I don't want to be trapped without a working OS. Personally, I like to play this game on my old 1999 ibook under OS9. OS9 makes me happy when it comes to word processing and old games. It ranges from sucky to impossible for most other tasks.

I also have OS X, Windows Vista, Win7 and several other to choose from, but at the end of the OS9 and Chrome OS are convenient for me.

*Technically the ibook is "hackproof", because no one has bothered and no one is going to start now. It is very far from optimal or even "computing". Think Cylon vs. 8 Track Tape.

Magarven the Mad

I got hit hard New Year's eve. Window defender caught it, but could not get it cleaned (it kept asking me to send reports in). The first full scan took over 8 hours. Second almost 12 hours. Things just got worse after each scan. I tried several good rated anti-virus software, but it just got worse. The last full scan in safe mode took over 24 hours. When it was done, my computer booted up to the dreaded You files have been encrypted, please pay us $500 to fix your problem. I decided the heck with it all and took off to Microcenter to get 2 new hard drives and a copy of windows 7 to start fresh. While there, my wife drug me over to the new desktops ( I think because she was tired of hearing the cursing and dreaded what might come if the hard drive installation failed. Having been down for 3 days, I heeded her advice and bought an new computer with Windows 7. I started with the Powessere.A virus, graduated to Vosteran virus and ended up with the KeyHolder virus. In the four years that I ran Windows 7 with windows defender (security essentials) I never had a virus. Moral, get the best protection you can (suggest paying for it so your virus/malware software doesn't spam you, or like AVG take over your computer). I am not sure operating system makes all that difference.

Clintmire

>I would have to say that the best OS is the one you are happy with.

I use Gentoo Linux, including for playing GS. I'd be amazed if anyone else did that. So, I agree very much with the "to each their own" philosophy.

>If you are looking for "hack proof"* machines, they basically don't exist. What you need is to maintain what you have to the best level you can. Which simply means you need to find something you are happy with make it work.

GNU/Linux machines are pretty solid. If you get a big distro like Mint or Ubuntu, you have an identical host to others, which sets the foundation for a virus. Although I see reports for plenty of vulnerabilities in free software, it's extremely rare I heard about ones for GNU/Linux that have no affect on other OSes, as well. (e.g. Heartbleed.)

Gentoo with a competent admin is probably only beaten in its security by things like Linux from Scratch or super-hardened builds (I'm thinking like Devil Linux on a Live CD with no write access to anything other than memory). This is mainly because they are meta-distros (at best), so your machine is extremely unlikely to have an identical setup to any other machine in the world. Of course, Core Utils, gcc, and a lot of libraries will be shared, which is a possible commonality as a vulnerability. But if you don't sudo random stuff, and you keep most of your ports closed, I'd be fairly surprised to hear about any vulnerabilities that affect you in GNU/Linux. In about ten years, I can't think of one I've had. I have zero anti-virus software of any sort, besides the most important one: common sense.

In 6 months, I had issued on Mac OS. Windows starts having issues in about a week if you don't immediately install tons of warfare software, never touch Internet Explorer, etc. Mac didn't used to have many virus problems, but more than anything else, they get them now from market share. Use something no one else uses, and probably you won't need to worry about viruses.

On the other hand, Linux is not at all supported by Simutronics, and you'll wind up only using third party software. There are definitely some native options out there (Warlock and Profanity, as well as SpiffFE and perhaps others), but they definitely differ from Wizard / StormFront / etc.

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>Kayse scrambles to avoid being sucked into the void!

I like Sophos bundles, for a number of reasons - not the least of which is I can get one provider for all PC, Mac, iOS, Linux and Android platforms I use. And yes, sadly.

Doug