which is the most stable windows version?

[colore]

hello

which is the most stable windows version?

thanks

[CoffeeFiend]

which is the most stable windows version?

The one your hardware has good drivers written for. Every OS that came out in the last decade or so, fully updated and with good drivers should be rock solid pretty much. I've had no stability issues with XP/Vista/7 (nor on servers) that weren't caused by misbehaving drivers or broken hardware. But the later versions of Windows (Vista/7) have some extra stuff that help, like WDDM video drivers which make them more "tolerant" of video driver issues, which means far fewer BSODs and hangs, even with broken drivers.

Long story short, if you have stability problems, update your drivers or test your hardware. It's extremely unlikely that the OS itself is at fault.

[deda]

English isn't my native idiom.

Since windows 2k release I had no kind of issues, except ME. I believe that stability grew from it, 2K, and Se7en is the best one. XP is great too, but 7 handles better with bad written apps. I think when developers start write 'real' x64 apps, the power of new CPUs generation will delivery more with less.

[DonDamm]

Hmm. I was very fond of Server 2003. I would run it for months and months without needing to reboot because of a crash or hang. Various flavors of linux have been extremely stable, too. I've run Ubuntu for a while and am extremely pleased with it over all. The latest version will even load up on a new Macd Book Pro!! Tey it. Go to an Apple Store and ask if it will load directly onto a Mac Book Pro. I did it in Vienna and they told me it wouldn't work. I said let's try it and slipped in the disk and rebooted. It took a bit, but finally it came up! It found all the hardware and everything just worked. It ws a hoot! :^)

I can't tell much difference between Server 2008 R2 and Win 7, though. Except for the function, the stability seems about the same.

[colore]

thanks for your replies

maybe i should clarify that by stability i dont mean hardware issues interacting with OS

i mean responsiveness, speed, less need for restarts, etc, while using the OS for long time, installing many programs and generally loading it with many processes, etc

[colore]

Hmm. I was very fond of Server 2003. I would run it for months and months without needing to reboot because of a crash or hang. Various flavors of linux have been extremely stable, too. I've run Ubuntu for a while and am extremely pleased with it over all. The latest version will even load up on a new Macd Book Pro!! Tey it. Go to an Apple Store and ask if it will load directly onto a Mac Book Pro. I did it in Vienna and they told me it wouldn't work. I said let's try it and slipped in the disk and rebooted. It took a bit, but finally it came up! It found all the hardware and everything just worked. It ws a hoot! :^)

I can't tell much difference between Server 2008 R2 and Win 7, though. Except for the function, the stability seems about the same.

what about Server 2003 and Win7 ?

[MagicAndre1981]

Vista Sp2 is currently the most stable and robust Windows.

[hardrockRam]

Windows 2008 R2 in my opinion.

It`s more responsive and stable than W7, which I believe is because of all the crap that isn`t installed (like Live Essentials, Defender and so on).

It shares drivers with 7\Vista, which has gotten pretty mature.

Its much better at handling unstable programs and drivers than XP and XP64\2003.

I use some of the server functions like Active Directory, DNS, DHCP and a couple of others.

I use it as the main workstation for 3D\CAD

It works as a node in my renderfarm.

Edited January 3, 2011 by hardrockRam

[TrAvELAr]

I've had no stability issues with Windows 3.11 for WorkGroups.

[DonDamm]

@colore, I'd probably recommend Server 2008 R2 as it comes with nothing turned on. That means you only turn on what you need to use. Like any OS, it depends on what you use it for and how you use it as to whether you'll need to reboot, etc. I'm building a new machine and am seriously considering using Ubuntu Server and then running all other OSs in a VM. That may be the stablest configuration around!! lol There are some advantages to running in a VM as you can take "snapshots" and easily reset while the underlying OS is less vulnerable to current nasties. The latest spate of Windows nasties tend to install rootkits with abandon and often require redoing the MBR among other things to get rid of them. some even survive a reinstall! That's why running in a VM can be advantageous.

Seriously, if you configure an OS properly and on proper hardware XP, Vista (yes even Vista), and 7 can all be "stable". Even Win98 SE could be considered stable if you don't ask too much of it.

Why are you asking the question? What are you trying to accomplish? What role is the OS you want to install going to play? Is it a gaming platform? a server? a rendering platform as hardrockRam uses it? a fixit box? a main workstation? a test machine? None of these would be configured the same way, so it helps if you are a bit more specific.

[colore]

I am thinking to try Windows 2008 R2, but I want it for desktop use

there was an article to transform Windows 2003 Server to desktop OS, is there anything for Windows 2008 R2 ?

thanks

[nitroshift]

I am thinking to try Windows 2008 R2, but I want it for desktop use

there was an article to transform Windows 2003 Server to desktop OS, is there anything for Windows 2008 R2 ?

thanks

Google is your friend.

[Tripredacus]

Since this isn't about a specific Windows 7 release or version, I shall move this to Software Hangout.