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I consider myself fairly versatile when it comes to O/S selection. I have used DOS/Windows PC's all my life, switched my main laptop to Mac two years ago, and have used numerous flavors of Unix/Linux/BSD while studying for my Comp.Sci. degree.
However, as I'm trying to improve my development environment, I'm starting to wonder if I'd be better off scrapping the Macbook for a PC with a different O/S flavor (to support a different set of tools and IDEs).
What O/S do you prefer for (web) development, and why? (prefer answers from people who have real-world experience coding on multiple platforms)
(Note: I am aware of this question discussing client vs. server O/S - what I'm interested is the whole development environment, and not limited to the 'Windows crowd')
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Linux, macOS, and Windows are highly preferred operating systems for web developers. Although, Windows has an additional advantage as it allows to work simultaneously with Windows and Linux. Using these two Operating Systems allows web developers to use the necessary apps including Node JS, Ubuntu, and GIT.
Web development gives you the opportunity to express yourself creatively on the internet. If you have an idea you would like to try as you discover your web dev skills, try it out. Web dev is a fun, creative experience.
Linux is considered to be more secure than Windows. No antivirus is needed. Since it is open-source, several developers are working on it and everyone can contribute code. It is likely that someone will find a vulnerability long before hackers can target a Linux distro.
Web developers are primarily focused on developing websites and web applications that run on internet browsers like Google Chrome, Safari, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, etc. Hence, if seen from a stratospheric level, Windows is a better overall option as it permits you to work simultaneously with Linux.
It's really going to depend on the type of web development you want to do. If you are doing PHP (or LAMP, Perl, Python, Ruby), then Linux is probably the best way to go. If you are looking at doing .Net development, then Windows would be your best bet. I think if you're on Java, then Windows or Linux would be equally good.
For LAMP development on Linux, you are probably best going with Netbeans or Eclipse for your IDE. Personally I prefer Netbeans, but it depends on which you are more comfortable with. If you want to pay for an IDE, Zend is one of the better options. As far as distros go, any popular distro should be fine. I hear Ubuntu is pretty popular although my personal favourite is Mandriva.
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You don't need to scrap your Macbook to use different operating systems. Many developers run multiple OSs without giving up the Macbook experience.
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