Choosing the Best Operating System
Choosing the right OS (operating system) is much like the presidential election for most people. They choose the better of the two most popular (and in many people's minds, the only) OS's. However, they don't know about the other potentially better operating systems for them. Are the two leading ones the best for you? What are some alternatives to them?
For Your Computer
Let me first say that there is no single operating system that is best for everyone. It all depends on your preferences and what your requirements and needs are. I'll make a general list here and if anyone wants me to explain more about a specific OS, just comment.
Microsoft Windows: The most popular OS by far with over 1.5 billion users, Windows has been leading the market for years and is the OS of choice for most people. Windows is easy to set up and easy to use and understand. However, ever since the release of Windows 10, people have been looking for alternatives. Microsoft is openly spying on users and many updates that introduce spyware are breaking some software.
Target user base: Your average Jack and Jill, some slightly more intermediate users (such as gamers).
Apple Mac OS: The strong second-most popular OS is Apple's Macintosh. Its very similar to Windows in ease of use and easy setup. However, it limits the user more than Windows, so there is less freedom to customize and do some advanced stuff. Thankfully, it doesn't spy that much on you, so many people might favour Mac. It also has a bigger learning curve than Windows and the devices that ship with it are extremely expensive and overpriced.
Target user base: Your average Joe and Jill.
Linux: Now we're getting to some less popular yet better (in my opinion) OS's. Linux, contrary to popular belief, can be just as easy as Windows or Mac to set up and use. There are quite a few versions of Linux ("distros") which offer unparalleled customizability and usability. You can do a lot more with Linux, that's why many "hackers" use it. Linux is completely open-source which means that anyone can see what it's made up of, almost completely removing the possibility of spyware being built-in to the OS. Also, it's completely free and widely available.
Here is a list of some good Linux distros. Linux distros vary a lot so you'll have to look into which one looks best and has the features you need.
Target user base: Depends on Linux distro, but mostly more tech-savvy users.
For Your Phone
There aren't that many operating systems out there for your phone. That's primarily because it's hard to change from your stock Android or iOS to another OS. I won't include how to install these OS's here, since I can fill another whole post with that.
CyanogenMod is was arguably the best one out there. It was based on Android, but includes many more privacy and customizability features. Each version has to be separately developed for each phone model so yours might not be compatible with it. However, there was a strong community continually developing it meaning that you'd probably find a version of it with a newer version of Android for your phone.
CyanogenMod is no longer in development; the new project is called
LineageOS. It aims to continue what Cyanogen built up.
Firefox OS, brought to you by the popular browser developer Mozilla, isn't as popular as CyanogenMod and it's still under active development. However, its key feature is that it is built entirely on web technologies, which means that anyone who can develop websites (or use HTML and CSS) can build it (which is awesome, right?). It's concept is pretty big but it's only slowly being built and brought out.
Ubuntu Touch aims to be a mobile-friendly version of the popular Linux distro Ubuntu. It has a nice feature called "scopes" which brings everything you need to one screen without the need to open and switch between multiple apps.
OmniROM was created in response to the perceived commercialization of CyanogenMod. The developers of CyanogenMod refused to implement a certain feature that would majorly increase users' anonymity. I don't know much about this OS, but it seems to be a good alternative to CyanogenOS.
