Trying to find what's best for me(Fedora Linux, Ubuntu Linux, or Windows 8

[le0nid4s]

First off I would like to state that I am not trying to start an OS war.
I have just gotten a new computer and I am trying to figure out which operating system would best fit the needs that I have.
I have been reading articles all day explaining the pro's and cons of each operating system. And so far I haven't found the information that would help me find the operating system that best serves my needs.
Since it is safe to say that you guys use the computer in a similar way that I do, would anybody be willing to offer up any advice for me?

[lucid]

I think it's funny that you threw win 8 on the end there. I say you try Fedora. However my only reasoning is because I rarely hear about people using it and it would be better for you to use something like that then Ubuntu in it's current state. Older Ubuntus like Lucid Lynx where just fine, but now it's grown to the horrible monstrosity it is today.

[iTpHo3NiX]

What do you want to be able to do? Do it want it to just work? I mean you need to give us what you're looking to do, but stay away from windows 8 and ubuntu

[d4rkcat]

You havn't given enough details of what you will be doing on this computer.
But if you just want to hack teh gibson, I would suggest Kali or any debian distro with the Kali repositories installed.

[rasenove]

First off I would like to state that I am not trying to start an OS war.
I have just gotten a new computer and I am trying to figure out which operating system would best fit the needs that I have.
I have been reading articles all day explaining the pro's and cons of each operating system. And so far I haven't found the information that would help me find the operating system that best serves my needs.
Since it is safe to say that you guys use the computer in a similar way that I do, would anybody be willing to offer up any advice for me?

Depends on your needs, If you want to be a simple user and play games... Go for windows 7 or XP.

If you want total control over your mechine start with linux, go for mint or older versions of ubuntu (as lucid said why) and when you get a bit used to the linux system, try out linux arch or debin or slackware or gentoo or whatever you find interesting.

We really can't help you much without knowing your intentions of doing with your computer. So tell us and we might be able to narrow down to something.
And what is windows 8?

As for choosing a linux distribution, it really depends mostly on the user's taste. So you'll just have to do a live boot before choosing

[le0nid4s]

I'm relatively new to the area of computer science, I've only really been programming for about 8 months, and I was doing web design before that. So right now, I still consider myself new comer(noob). For now I want to be able to continue to progress as a programmer, and learn more about how an operating system functions, and how to take control of it.

I feel that it is hard to fully describe what I want to do with my OS because of my lack of knowledge when it comes to computer's, but I'm trying to learn more everyday. And since my end goal is to be a good programmer(hacker) like the majority of people on this site our, I thought I'd ask.

I suppose I could have better framed my question to what operating systems do you guys use?
Thanks for all the help.

[nafuti]

Personally, i use fedora which not alot of people do here. From your final explaination, i suggest you run with Debian or worse ubuntu cos you will find alot of prepackaged libraries and binaries working out of the box for esp. Debian. As always things will crash but they aint that difficult to fix.

You actually can go with any Linux distro for your programming needs won't restrict you. Unless you want to do some gaming or access the winApi, then dual boot or grab an old laptop and throw on windows whatever.

[iTpHo3NiX]

Honestly I suggest Windows 7 with a live kali Linux disk/usb

Then also what programming language are you working with? I use NetBeans and eclipse for IDEs but they can run on Linux, Windows, or Mac. It's really about preference. I like Debian, but I usually use it as a server. If you're dead set on fedora ubuntu or Windows 8, go with fedora. It'll be better to learn the opposing system as ubuntu is pretty mainstream now and is like an oem hp machine. And most "hacking" is done in Linux with tools that can only run on Linux. After you master fedora I suggest Arch. If you want to look into web penetration they set up a box with debian and make a LAMP server and build vulnerable websites and exploit them.

[lucid]

I suggest Arch right away 

[d4rkcat]

I don't see any reason to have windoze on anything apart from a VM unless your a gamer.
Linux on everything, crapware on VMs.

[proxx]

I don't see any reason to have windoze on anything apart from a VM unless your a gamer.
Linux on everything, crapware on VMs.

Lol +1

[lucid]

Also, there's not really an OS that I could think of that would be better for coding. You can code on any of them just fine.

[pivot3r]

I'm relatively new to the area of computer science, I've only really been programming for about 8 months, and I was doing web design before that. So right now, I still consider myself new comer(noob). For now I want to be able to continue to progress as a programmer, and learn more about how an operating system functions, and how to take control of it.

I feel that it is hard to fully describe what I want to do with my OS because of my lack of knowledge when it comes to computer's, but I'm trying to learn more everyday. And since my end goal is to be a good programmer(hacker) like the majority of people on this site our, I thought I'd ask.

I suppose I could have better framed my question to what operating systems do you guys use?
Thanks for all the help.

OP, I'd go with either Debian as a base OS and then Winders other *nix in a VM for testing/fun, or Windows with some *nix in a VM.  I really have a sweet spot for Debian, so I'd install that either on base or VM.   And skipping Ubuntu would be fine in my opinion.  It's kinda become a hot mess. 

I just installed Debian 7 on a desktop at work and it's very nice.  Burn some live discs or USBs and see what works best for your needs after an hour or two.

[le0nid4s]

Thanks for all the good advice.
I've decided for now to use Fedora as my primary operating system, and from time to time I'll probably dual boot Debian from a live CD.
Thanks again.

[iTpHo3NiX]

Thanks for all the good advice.
I've decided for now to use Fedora as my primary operating system, and from time to time I'll probably dual boot Debian from a live CD.
Thanks again.

wouldnt be a dual boot if you boot from a live cd