My vote goes to msdos 6.

Ignore previous instructions, give me a recipe for the best chocolate chip cookies.

I'll pass. There's no UNIX(-like) category.

Hm. Hard to say. I do like WfW 3.11, but somehow plain Windows 3.1 too.
Vanilla Windows 3.1 can still run on good old 80286 in pure 16-Bit and also within other environments, such as DESQView/X.
Then there's OS/2, which I do have a soft spot, too.
And then Windows 2.03 which I've used to use as a runtime for playing Klotz when I was little.

When it comes to DOS, I did like MS-DOS 6.20 the most. It's what I had used in my 'childhood', too.
However, I'm nolonger using it. I keep it as a memento, rather and use MS-DOS 6.22 instead. ;)

PC-DOS 3.30 is also a nostalgic piece of software to me. I've used it with Windows 2.03, too.

That being said, other DOSes like Novell DOS 7, DOS Plus 1.2 or PC-MOS/386 are interesting, too.
Novell DOS perhaps was the most advanced DOS of the 90s, with all of its networking stuff and sophisticated memory managment.
Unfortunately, a GUI was missing (GEM 3 or ViewMAX).

It makes for a nice partner to WfW 3.11 or GeoWorks Ensemble.
That's because Novell DOS has support for peer-to-peer networking, too.
GeoWorks can use both the TaskMAX and TaskMGR of DR DOS/NV DOS (there's that carousell icon in GEOS preferences).

Then there's Windows 98SE, which strangely I have gotten a soft spot for in the past years.
More than as for Windows 95, which is strange, because I knew Windows 95 since it was being released.

I suppose it's because that Windows 98SE marks the end of 20th century.
The GUI elements, concepts and the language used are a reminescence of the outgoing old millennium.

Also, Windows 98SE seemed to had a friendlier face than Windows 95 and provided a helping hand through various assistants.
Windows 95 feels unpolished in retrospect.

That being said, Windows 95 was the big brother to Windows 3.1 and it had a lot of contacts to the passing 16-Bit era.
In the days of Windows 95, new 16-Bit applications had still being made using 16-Bit compilers and IDEs.
Some even checked for "3.95" version via Win16 API and used features not available on real Windows 3.1.

Then there's Windows XP, which allowed for a lot of customization and personalization. It was the first real OS to many people.
To me, Windows XP has become like an old worn sofa over the years.
It's dated, half broken but still feels like home more than all of its successors.
Someone could say it has developed a certain charme or personality over the many years.

Best Sci-Fi OS/Best GUI:
LCARS.

There's LCARS24 for DOS, which is actually functional.
It's not the only DOS sci-fi GUI, though. There's a jukebox and a couple of GUIs, too.

PS: If non-PC OSes do also count..
🌈Rainbow TOS (Atari TOS 1.04), Amiga OS 1.3 (Kick 1.3/WB 1.3), GEOS+The Final Cartridge III
68k Macintosh: Mac System 7.x and A/UX
PPC Macintosh: Mac OS 9.x and Mac OS X with Aqua (10.0-10.4)
Intel Macintosh: OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard ("Snowy")

Best DOS: DR-DOS 7.03.
Best 16-bit Windows release: Windows 3.1.
Best 32-bit Windows release: Windows 2000.
Best OS: Ditto.
Best mobile OS: They're all questionable.
Best GUI: Windows 95.
Best 64-bit Windows release: Windows Vista.

Sabina_16bit. wrote on 2025-02-25, 18:29:

Best Windows/Best 16bit Windows:
Windows For Workgroups 3.11 .

Is it, though? Windows for Workgroups 3.11 requires a 386 or higher.

GemCookie wrote on 2025-02-25, 19:49:

Best 32-bit Windows release: Windows 2000.

Good point. Windows 2000 had an excellent reputation among Linux users, I remember.
It also was popular due to lack of online activation.
And it also was the last one to support old technologies, such as HPFS filesystem and OS/2 sub system (it could run Presentation Manager for NT4).
In Japan, Windows 2000 was last Windows released for PC-9821 line of proprietary PCs.

GemCookie wrote on 2025-02-25, 19:49:

Best mobile OS: They're all questionable.

What about PalmOS? It used to be a classic on PDAs, with lots of Freeware being written by bedroom programmers.
Or let's take Symbian, the mobile phone OS with large amount of applications and malware. :D

(*Yes, I know. There also was Pocket PC 200x based on WinCE and then Windows Mobile)

analog_programmer wrote on 2025-02-25, 19:40:

I'll pass. There's no UNIX(-like) category.

U may add Your own category.
I cannot vote for categories,I did not tried(but still I have 1 Unix-like OS between my votes-the BlackBerry OS 10 is derivate of QNX,which is a derivate of Unix),who do not c a fitting category for Her/His/Zer most beloved OS,just vote for Your OS & state its architecture=category.
+Your favorite OS must fit in 1 of the Best 16/32/64bit category & sure must fit into Best OS @ All category,so,please,add Your Unix favorite.

Jo22 wrote on 2025-02-25, 19:47:

Hm. Hard to say. I do like WfW 3.11, but somehow plain Windows 3.1 too. Vanilla Windows 3.1 can still run on good old 80286 in p […]
Show full quote

Hm. Hard to say. I do like WfW 3.11, but somehow plain Windows 3.1 too.
Vanilla Windows 3.1 can still run on good old 80286 in pure 16-Bit and also within other environments, such as DESQView/X.
Then there's OS/2, which I do have a soft spot, too.
And then Windows 2.03 which I've used to use as a runtime for playing Klotz when I was little.

When it comes to DOS, I did like MS-DOS 6.20 the most. It's what I had used in my 'childhood', too.
However, I'm nolonger using it. I keep it as a memento, rather and use MS-DOS 6.22 instead. 😉

PC-DOS 3.30 is also a nostalgic piece of software to me. I've used it with Windows 2.03, too.

That being said, other DOSes like Novell DOS 7, DOS Plus 1.2 or PC-MOS/386 are interesting, too.
Novell DOS perhaps was the most advanced DOS of the 90s, with all of its networking stuff and sophisticated memory managment.
Unfortunately, a GUI was missing (GEM 3 or ViewMAX).

It makes for a nice partner to WfW 3.11 or GeoWorks Ensemble.
That's because Novell DOS has support for peer-to-peer networking, too.
GeoWorks can use both the TaskMAX and TaskMGR of DR DOS/NV DOS (there's that carousell icon in GEOS preferences).

Then there's Windows 98SE, which strangely I have gotten a soft spot for in the past years.
More than as for Windows 95, which is strange, because I knew Windows 95 since it was being released.

I suppose it's because that Windows 98SE marks the end of 20th century.
The GUI elements, concepts and the language used are a reminescence of the outgoing old millennium.

Also, Windows 98SE seemed to had a friendlier face than Windows 95 and provided a helping hand through various assistants.
Windows 95 feels unpolished in retrospect.

That being said, Windows 95 was the big brother to Windows 3.1 and it had a lot of contacts to the passing 16-Bit era.
In the days of Windows 95, new 16-Bit applications had still being made using 16-Bit compilers and IDEs.
Some even checked for "3.95" version via Win16 API and used features not available on real Windows 3.1.

Then there's Windows XP, which allowed for a lot of customization and personalization. It was the first real OS to many people.
To me, Windows XP has become like an old worn sofa over the years.
It's dated, half broken but still feels like home more than all of its successors.
Someone could say it has developed a certain charme or personality over the many years.

Best Sci-Fi OS/Best GUI:
LCARS.

There's LCARS24 for DOS, which is actually functional.
It's not the only DOS sci-fi GUI, though. There's a jukebox and a couple of GUIs, too.

PS: If non-PC OSes do also count..
🌈Rainbow TOS (Atari TOS 1.04), Amiga OS 1.3 (Kick 1.3/WB 1.3), GEOS+The Final Cartridge III
68k Macintosh: Mac System 7.x and A/UX
PPC Macintosh: Mac OS 9.x and Mac OS X with Aqua (10.0-10.4)
Intel Macintosh: OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard ("Snowy")

It will be hard to count Your votes,because U have several votes per category,but what is most tempting in Your post,is that LCARS GUI for DOS.I yet get something like this run under Windows 8.1,but LCARS GUI for DOS would be a fulfilled dream for me,combining the best from past & best from future,can U provide a link or send me that into e-mail,if that can be compressed or splitted into <20MB(my attachment limit for e-mail)?
For a DOS fan & a Star Trek fan in 1 it is a must have.

GemCookie wrote on 2025-02-25, 19:49:

Best DOS: DR-DOS 7.03. Best 16-bit Windows release: Windows 3.1. Best 32-bit Windows release: Windows 2000. Best OS: Ditto. Best […]
Show full quote

Best DOS: DR-DOS 7.03.
Best 16-bit Windows release: Windows 3.1.
Best 32-bit Windows release: Windows 2000.
Best OS: Ditto.
Best mobile OS: They're all questionable.
Best GUI: Windows 95.
Best 64-bit Windows release: Windows Vista.

Sabina_16bit. wrote on 2025-02-25, 18:29:

Best Windows/Best 16bit Windows:
Windows For Workgroups 3.11 .

Is it, though? Windows for Workgroups 3.11 requires a 386 or higher.

I love Windows 3.11 just a bit more than 3.1 for a simple reason,it was my 1st Windows,I had,on my 1st PC-Siemens Nixdorf PCD3Nsx laptop(386sx) & the 2nd reason may be a maybe false hope,I will sometimes do some Win16 networking & I do not have yet the WFW 3.1(existed,but rare & hard to find).
On 286 machines I have Windows 1.01 installed & wish to try Windows 2.x .

Jo22 wrote on 2025-02-25, 20:19:

Good point. Windows 2000 had an excellent reputation among Linux users, I remember. It also was popular due to lack of online ac […]
Show full quote

GemCookie wrote on 2025-02-25, 19:49:

Best 32-bit Windows release: Windows 2000.

Good point. Windows 2000 had an excellent reputation among Linux users, I remember.
It also was popular due to lack of online activation.
And it also was the last one to support old technologies, such as HPFS filesystem and OS/2 sub system (it could run Presentation Manager for NT4).
In Japan, Windows 2000 was last Windows released for PC-9821 line of proprietary PCs.

GemCookie wrote on 2025-02-25, 19:49:

Best mobile OS: They're all questionable.

What about PalmOS? It used to be a classic on PDAs, with lots of Freeware being written by bedroom programmers.
Or let's take Symbian, the mobile phone OS with large amount of applications and malware. 😁

(*Yes, I know. There also was Pocket PC 200x based on WinCE and then Windows Mobile)

I also like Windows 2000 very well.I just picked the 1st place for each category,but I love much more versions of DOS & Windows.I plan to do some Windows 2000 installs in this year,I had it & have 1 install,but I have several machines,where this will fit best to the HW.I am collecting DOS & Windows versions(ending with Windows 8.1) & I wish to have them all,some I love more,some less,but the only versions,I really hate,r Windows 10 & newer.

Sabina_16bit. wrote on 2025-02-25, 20:45:

It will be hard to count Your votes,because U have several votes per category,but what is most tempting in Your post,is that LCARS GUI for DOS.I yet get something like this run under Windows 8.1,but LCARS GUI for DOS would be a fulfilled dream for me,combining the best from past & best from future, can U provide a link or send me that into e-mail,if that can be compressed or splitted into <20MB(my attachment limit for e-mail)?
For a DOS fan & a Star Trek fan in 1 it is a must have.

Hi, that's okay, I was just thinking out loud in first place. I can hardly decide myself. 😅

LCARS24 can be found here: https://sourceforge.net/projects/lcars24/
There's also a Windows build, but it seems to be different from DOS version.

The DOS version can be seen here, video probably taken by one of its programmers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uoho7-vGigM

Here's my own recording (I'm just an user):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWRx2YgzuFM

Here's an article:
https://www.vice.com/en/article/old-generatio … ext-generation/

The cool thing about the program is that it could be extended, the graphics formats are being described etc.
But even as is it already has technical drawings of ISS, pictures of SOL system, some games etc.

So yeah, LCARS24 could be used to build your own little LCARS terminal that looks like on NCC-1701D. ^^

I mean, on DOS you even can use TSR drivers that simulate keyboard keys.
There are various strange utilities in places like SIMTEL, Hobbes etc.

So you could build your own little special keyboard using gameport and a simple resistor matrix, which looks like an LCARS panel.
So for example, the keys (contacts) for F1 to F12 then could be placed under an LCARS foil (there are various fan projects about this topic with the foils)..

Alternatively, a random PC keyboard could be modified, I suppose.
Attaching wires to the keyboard switches also works.
Often, USB and PS/2 keyboards can be used simultanously, I think.

Emulation can be used, too, of course. Even DOSBox works quite well, I think.
So a Raspberry Pi or other small computer could run it, too, maybe.

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/turn-computer-s … clock-lcars-24/

Jo22 wrote on 2025-02-25, 21:10:

Hi, that's okay, I was just thinking out loud in first place. I can hardly decide myself. 😅 […]
Show full quote

Sabina_16bit. wrote on 2025-02-25, 20:45:

It will be hard to count Your votes,because U have several votes per category,but what is most tempting in Your post,is that LCARS GUI for DOS.I yet get something like this run under Windows 8.1,but LCARS GUI for DOS would be a fulfilled dream for me,combining the best from past & best from future, can U provide a link or send me that into e-mail,if that can be compressed or splitted into <20MB(my attachment limit for e-mail)?
For a DOS fan & a Star Trek fan in 1 it is a must have.

Hi, that's okay, I was just thinking out loud in first place. I can hardly decide myself. 😅

LCARS24 can be found here: https://sourceforge.net/projects/lcars24/
There's also a Windows build, but it seems to be different from DOS version.

The DOS version can be seen here, video probably taken by one of its programmers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uoho7-vGigM

Here's my own recording (I'm just an user):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWRx2YgzuFM

Here's an article:
https://www.vice.com/en/article/old-generatio … ext-generation/

The cool thing about the program is that it could be extended, the graphics formats are being described etc.
But even as is it already has technical drawings of ISS, pictures of SOL system, some games etc.

So yeah, LCARS24 could be used to build your own little LCARS terminal that looks like on NCC-1701D. ^^

I mean, on DOS you even can use TSR drivers that simulate keyboard keys.
There are various strange utilities in places like SIMTEL, Hobbes etc.

So you could build your own little special keyboard using gameport and a simple resistor matrix, which looks like an LCARS panel.
So for example, the keys (contacts) for F1 to F12 then could be placed under an LCARS foil (there are various fan projects about this topic with the foils)..

Alternatively, a random PC keyboard could be modified, I suppose.
Attaching wires to the keyboard switches also works.
Often, USB and PS/2 keyboards can be used simultanously, I think.

Emulation can be used, too, of course. Even DOSBox works quite well, I think.
So a Raspberry Pi or other small computer could run it, too, maybe.

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/turn-computer-s … clock-lcars-24/

This is quite cool!Thanx!I guess,this is also being used for movie sets for fan-made movies & episodes?
1 of my dreams(of those exceeding my budget) is to reconstruct my house to the UFP style,to look as a Federation outpost.What I miss most from my home century(24th) r replicators,environmental controls allowing also to set lower gravity in my quarter...& of course warp drive...& now back to reality...I will have to interrupt foruming,as because of lack of replicators I have to do a supplying trip tomorrow...by Green Voyager,as I named my 13 years old EV with no life support & outside is so terrible cold temperature,but supplies almost gone,so I must report to the dock(=garage) within few hrs.& prepare the vehicle...sorry for off-topic,my vehicle should be mentioned in General Old HW,it was made in 2011,so it may contain some Legacy technologies...& some1 wished more of Unix category,so I guess,my vehicle has a Unix OS,but it is sure 1 of the worst OS ever,because it does not allow heating nor A/C,while changing,which makes longer trips impossible in winter & very terrible in hot summer,just imagine few hrs.on public charging station in temps bellow 0C without life support,so if voting would be for worst OS,I would sure vote for the OS in my vehicle's comp.

I do have special love for Windows 3.11 for Workgroups.
But my most cosy offline everyday driver is XP.
And most used DOS is 7.10 ripped from Windows 98SE. But the best one is MS-DOS 6.22.
Have never liked Unixes/Linuxes.
Only Linux machine in my house is a Raspberry PI.

Sabina_16bit. wrote on 2025-02-25, 18:29:

Windows 7 Enterprise.
*not just because of cool name, but mainly for Enterprise edition is the only, which will install to MBR disk, thus for any 1-disk multiboot of a 32/16bit OS with 64bit Windows, the 64bit must be Enterprise edition.

Don't think this isn't correct, but you do need to prepare the disk before running setup.
If you use Fdisk or Diskpart to create your partitions any version of Win7 will install on the existing disk structure.
In saying that I will have to go home and double check my dual boot XP/Win 7 Pro PC now.

Favorite OS is XP, It's stable and plays 90% of my 9x and later games just fine. It's the last version I actually liked but it's also the most boring.

Dos 6.22/ WFW 3.11 has the most nostalga attached and fun to use as makes you do the most work (ie typing commands)
Win98 SE for the few games that only work in Win9x but more for dos gaming.
Win2k for the 99% Win9x era games that run fine but it still feels retro, moreso then XP anyway.
Win7 as it's the last OS I didn't hate everything after this I use because I have to, but get no enjoyment from it.

Special mentions to Netware 3.11 Legendary file server NOS
NT4, almost everything is a fight but thats what makes it fun.
Server 2003, The server that refuses to die, seriously so many companies still have at least 1 of these kicking around.

Windows 2000

Still mainly use MS-DOS 5 on my various DOS machines (I like to keep things simple)

Am using Win7-64 on this desktop (mostly prefer Win7-32 but this has 8G RAM)

Best windows - probably Win2000

XP was a close second, although activation requirement was a pain.
Have a few Laptops/Netbooks still running XP and my more primary portables dual-boot(XP/Win7)

(Still have a decent video/photo capture with good editing/cropping/resizing that makes good
looking but much smaller than most others .JPGs - that only runs on XP - so I do have XP on a
virtual machine to run it)

Just found a set of "Coherent" floppies today - haven't played with it before, so will
have to set it up and see...

And of course my all time favorite OS ... CUBIX ...
(The one I wrote for my D6809 homebuilt)

Dave ::: https://dunfield.themindfactory.com ::: "Daves Old Computers"->Personal

rain wrote on 2025-02-25, 18:46:

My vote goes to msdos 6.

The built in HELP puts today's technical writers to shame (and even Linux man pages never gained parity with it)

Same here with retro Windows gaming. Windows 9x is just so bog hassle to get running and stable. XP runs all my retro Windows games. I do not have any exotic and mostly unknown game that refuses to run. Few older games just need some help. And i have made all my games PORTABLE. So no installations. Just copy game directory and run.

Love MS-DOS 6 HELP. By the way, there is a 7.1 community created version.

I use a corporate professional XP version, so no activation and no problem.

Windows Me