Discussion on: Windows vs linux?

[Jim Burbridge]

I use Windows for development on both my desktop and laptop.

I've found that most things are not that bad to work with on Windows, and anything I simply can't get done using Powershell I simply use the Windows Subsystem Linux (WSL) for it; e.g. I simply do not remember the command to delete an entire directory for powershell, but I can just do the following:

PS C:\Users\your-user> bash
user@your-machine:/mnt/c/users/your-user$ rm -rf some-folder
user@your-machine:/mnt/c/users/your-user$ exit
PS C:\Users\your-user>  

Anything beyond that I tend to use Docker (and Docker Compose) for. I installed Ubuntu on a partition of my laptop's mechanical HD and while I don't mind using Linux, I also tend to like to take breaks and play a game here or there, which is just easier for me to do on Windows than it is on Ubuntu.

But really, whatever you find easiest is likely the best option. If you enjoy using linux for your dev setup, well enough people agree with you that Dell offers an Ubuntu based XPS computer (way too expensive imo, but it exists). If I could, I would likely use some Linux distro or another for my work computer as well, but unfortunately they make us use Macbooks.

[Jim Burbridge]

One caveat I forgot to mention: I use Chocolatey to shortcut some of the usual headaches that come with Windows development. I know people use Scoop, but I found chocolatey first so it's what I default to.