Which OS could be a replacement for Windows - expert opinions

In August, the Windows 10 operating system occupied nearly a quarter of the global desktop OS market. This is evidenced by the data service NetMarketShare analytical company Net Application. Analysts track the activity of more than 160 million unique users browsing over 40 thousand websites.

According to NetMarketShare statistics, in the last month of the summer of 2016, Windows 10 was installed on 23% of PCs in the world against 21.13% and 19.14% respectively in July and June. Windows 10 continues to strengthen its position, despite the termination of the free installation of this platform for owners of computers based on Windows 7 and 8.1 on July 29, 2016. The cost of Windows 10 is now $ 119 for the Home Edition and $ 200 for the Pro version.

Besides supporters, Windows has ardent opponents. They basically do not use this operating system. A significant part of them went and continues to move to Mac OS. Yesterday, September 20, Apple just released a new version of its OS - Mac OS Sierra.
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What can reunite all these people? A new operating system that combines the best qualities of Windows, Mac OS and many other operating systems.
Is it possible to develop such an OS? What features should it have?

We decided to talk with experts on this topic.

Peter Shcheglov, director of products for Moiofis for the mass market and education:

1. What was the first operating system in your life?

The first operating system I met was MS DOS version 5. There was already a QBASIC. Since then, I have a habit of using panel file managers (salute, Norton Commander) on any OS.

Computers at home in the early 90s were rare, so that during work my father closed the window with a curtain, and when turned off, the system man and monitor closed the cover so that they could not be seen through the window.

2. How did you get to know Windows? What was the version? What are its drawbacks you seemed significant?

My first "Windows" was version 3.1 (not yet an OS, but a shell on top of MS DOS). It immediately became apparent that working in the graphical interface was much easier than in the console. But there was little memory left for toys, and they were in conflict over the schedule, so they had to constantly return to the console.

3. What are the features of the entire family of Windows, you consider the disadvantages?

I can not combine all Windows into one "family" - too different operating systems were released under this brand. The 95th was subject to falls, the 98th was better. NT 4 SP 6 - generally my favorite OS, which grew on its basis 2000 - very stable and neat, but at the same time there was Millenium - and it was horror.

About experiments with the interface in whist and in the eight, too much has been said. But the presence of basic applications abandoned by developers as part of all Windows operating systems can be called a common shortcoming.

4. Do you still use Windows? If so, which version?

I have devices with Windows 7, 8 and 10 at home. The main OS is seven, laptops have an OEM version of the eight (with the application that returns the Start button), there is an experimental PC with a dozen. On a working MacBook, a virtual machine with a seven.

5. Has your practice experienced a transition and prolonged use of the operating system of other manufacturers? If so, what was this OS (were)? For what reason?

Yes, I have been using the MacBook c MacOS for one and a half years as an experiment on myself. There used to be working experiments with Ubuntu. And, of course, there are still mobile devices with iOS, Android, Tizen, had experience with Windows Mobile. It is not easy to live “on several OS”, each has its own peculiarities of use, user interaction. For me it is important to be aware of the features of different operating systems, so I use many devices at once.

6. What qualities should the OS have to become a replacement for Windows? Why?

Excessive enthusiasm for manufacturers of the OS that is currently popular for collecting user information opens up a “window of opportunity” for alternative OSes. The key is the formation of a distribution channel, the creation of a large library of applications and drivers. Yes, the PC market is very conservative, but the innovations of the 10s are not well accepted in the corporate sector and the “pebble” has already rolled.

Arthur Kuzyakov, DriverPack Solution:

1. What was the first operating system in your life?

My first OS was Windows 95 and I still think this product is revolutionary! What was implemented in it then, and to this day is present in all versions of Windows. For example, no matter how Microsoft tried to get rid of the “Start” button and teach people how to work with a computer, otherwise they will fail. It's hard to believe, but the interface, invented more than 20 years ago, is still relevant.

The desktop, the control panel, my computer, the basket, the minimizing and moving windows, the start menu - all this is in Windows 10, it was all in Windows 95! It is inspiring.

2. How did you get to know Windows? What was the version? What are its drawbacks you seemed significant?

Probably the most significant drawback of Windows 95 was its exceptional instability. But the most frustrating thing was not even this, but the fact that at some point you could just take and lose all your data, all the work in open applications.

Today, the stability of operating systems has grown many times. "Blue screens of death" have ceased to be the norm, but it is surprising that there are still applications that, closing out of order, may not save your data. It upsets ...

3. What are the features of the entire family of Windows, you consider the disadvantages?

The need to find and install drivers every time you reinstall Windows, it seems to me, one of the most significant drawbacks of the entire Windows family, which other operating systems do not have. This problem is not in MacOS, it is very rare in Linux and is completely absent on Android and iOS mobiles.

However, back in 2008, I decided to fix this problem and wrote my program, which was called DriverPack. Today, 40 million users around the world use my product and it can be said that the driver problem in Windows has been solved, albeit a third-party solution.

4. Do you still use Windows? If so, which version?

This may be surprising, but I use Windows 10 on my MacBook Pro 15 Retina. And this is really very convenient! MacOS is a good operating system, but in many ways, it has serious limitations and does not give me the freedom I would like. At the same time, the MacBook Pro is an excellent device, unparalleled, which is very difficult to find, so I take advantage of the MacBook as a device, and Windows as an operating system.

5. Has your practice experienced a transition and prolonged use of the operating system of other manufacturers? If so, what was this OS (were)? For what reason?

I have been using MacOS for a long time, but as already mentioned, for me, it has many limitations. And of course, like any programmer, I use Linux, since for servers it is just an ideal system. For example, in our DriverPack, all cloud servers and huge farms of Download servers are built on this OS.

But for most people, I think Windows is the ideal operating system. And it is not particularly important which version. Be it Windows 7/8 /8.1 / 10. Because, frankly, since the release of Windows 7 in this operating system, Microsoft has not made significant improvements, sometimes even vice versa. In general, Windows 7 and Windows 10 can be considered quite close to the ideal.

6. What qualities should the OS have to become a replacement for Windows? Why?

Once it might have seemed impossible, but now both MacOS and Linux can completely replace Windows (with a few exceptions). And in recent years, even mobile systems such as Android and iOS have begun to crowd out desktop systems.

And it is quite possible that in a couple of years, there will no longer be any tasks that a tablet or smartphone will not be able to handle. After all, now there are families in which there is neither a stationary computer, nor a laptop, for at least one tablet and several smartphones.

Trin Zothoff (@mobilz), IT veteran:

1. What was the first operating system in your life?

If we are talking about the OS in the classical sense, then MS-DOS. Then, perhaps, there was nothing better.

2. How did you get to know Windows? What was the version? What are its drawbacks you seemed significant?

Strangely enough, I missed the 3rd branch of Windows and immediately saw Windows 95 after MS-DOS. Then at that time it was the best for the user on the market. Of course, everyone tried to upgrade to Win95.

3. What are the features of the entire family of Windows, you consider the disadvantages?

Security problems, lack of console (we will not even consider the terminal).

4. Do you still use Windows? If so, which version?

I use. Sometimes 7th, sometimes 10th. There are still software / games that work only under Windows.

5. Has your practice experienced a transition and prolonged use of the operating system of other manufacturers? If so, what was this OS (were)? For what reason?

For a long time I was sitting on Unix-systems, they gave a great tcp / ip stack and a smart console. But the interface left much to be desired.

Then a Macbook appeared in my life and everything fell into place. Mac (in fact freebsd) made a very cool interface from Unix.

6. What qualities should the OS have to become a replacement for Windows? Why?

For me personally, work with the network is important. On Windows, it is nothing. Utilities like zmap and masscan for Windows are not available. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Adequate fs and unix-style rights made viruses for mac almost useless, with Windows getting worse. In fact, installing Windows, you immediately need to buy antivirus and firewall, hammering CPU time and killing the hard disk with constant scans.

Again, despite the presence of a steep poppy interface, I spend a lot of time on the console. And in the Mac console, in particular iTerm, this is the best I've ever seen.

Quite a lot of software is open source, at least from what I use. This feature went to Mac bonus as well as freebsd. Windows developers have no open source culture.

Oleg Bunin, the organizer of major IT conferences in Russia:

1. What was the first operating system in your life?

It was MS DOS, we studied programming, still at school. It is very good for a programmer to learn something low-level in order to understand how a computer works. How can you write something literate if you do not know what interruption is?

2. How did you get to know Windows? What was the version? What are its drawbacks you seemed significant?

If I'm not mistaken, then I started working with window interfaces with Windows 3.11. A good operating system, from the flaws then it seemed to me that it devours just a huge amount of resources.

3. What are the features of the entire family of Windows, you consider the disadvantages?

In my opinion, there are few serious flaws, let's say, Windows has the best resource / quality ratio. Although annoying features, of course, were different versions. For example, the 8-ka stopped me from time to time waiting for a response from the network - it was torture to work with some weak connection.

4. Do you still use Windows? If so, which version?

Yes, I use the latest, Windows 10.

5. Has your practice experienced a transition and prolonged use of the operating system of other manufacturers? If so, what was this OS (were)? For what reason?

As a desktop, I always used Windows, primarily because of the ecosystem of applications and programs.

6. What qualities should the OS have to become a replacement for Windows? Why?

If we are talking about the desktop, it is almost impossible. If you seriously approach the issue of developing an operating system, you just need to build a huge infrastructure for testing, testing various hardware, studying the interaction of various software combinations.

Such a daredevil will need to create an ecosystem of products that users use daily. It is impossible to transplant an army of home users from Microsoft Word to Open Office, you need to ensure that Microsoft Word works in the new operating system.

Denis Kortunov, Director of Industrial Design at Acronis

1. What was the first operating system in your life?

I think it was some kind of OS that worked on the ZX Spectrum, which I was looking through the showcase of the gaming club.

2. How did you get to know Windows? What was the version? What are its drawbacks you seemed significant?

It was Windows 2.0 - it was very cool compared to MS DOS and Norton Commander. But she braked and the games did not work under her.

3. What are the features of the entire family of Windows, you consider the disadvantages?

Bad UI design, module inconsistency, inconsistency in patterns, and also DRIVERS !!!

4. Do you still use Windows? If so, which version?

I am a Mac user with over 20 years of experience. Oddly enough, I recently forced myself to fully use Windows on a PC. Version 10. I need this to understand most users.

5. Has your practice experienced a transition and prolonged use of the operating system of other manufacturers? If so, what was this OS (were)? For what reason?

Yes. Episodically used Macintosh since 1994. Then, from 2002, he lived regularly on Mac OS.

6. What qualities should the OS have to become a replacement for Windows? Why?

Good design, intuitiveness, security, simplicity, a large number of applications, mass character.

PS If you imagine that the “killer” of Windows Desktop comes out, what niche will it take? Would it be easier for her to fit into the open source community? Or will she be able to get on commercial rails?