When you buy a computer, it almost always comes with a operating system preinstalled. This article is for people who are thinking about changing to a different operating system (OS), or have a choice of an OS when they are getting/building a new computer. First off, let me state that if you are happy with your current OS, there really is no need to change.
I am only going to go over the Windows OS's that are available for home use. There are other OS's like Linux and BeOS that a far more stable than Windows, but are not good for a typical home user. The ones I'm covering are Windows 95, Windows 95 second release, Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, Windows (98) ME, Windows NT Workstation 4.0, and Windows 2000 Professional. I am going to list how each of these OS's rates in terms of Stability, Compatibility, Resource Use, and Ease of Use.
Stability refers to how well the OS operates on a day to day basic. An unstable OS will crash and lock up on a regular basis, and require frequent reboots. It will not handle running multiple programs, especially if one program locks up. A stable OS will be the opposite, of course. There has been an increase trade of between Stability and Compatibility before Windows 2000 was released. The more hardware and software an OS was compatible with, the less stabile it was, and vice-versa.
Windows NT Workstation 4.0
Windows 2000 Professional
Windows 95 second release
Windows 95
Windows 98
Windows 98 SE
Windows ME
This refers to the amount of hardware and software an OS will work with. This was the main reason why Windows NT Workstation never was a good choice for a home OS - it was hard to find hardware for it and few games ran on it.
Windows 98 SE
Windows ME
Windows 98
Windows 2000 Professional
Windows 95 second release
Windows 95
Windows NT Workstation 4.0
This refers to how much the OS will use the computer to run. More specifically, this means how much RAM it uses and how much it hogs the processor. Contrary to what you may have heard, Windows 2000 does not use as many recourses as the Windows 98/SE/ME OS's use. One other thing to mention is that the price of good hardware is very cheap today, so resource use may not even be a consideration. If you have a 600 MgH processor and 246 MB of RAM, any of these OS's will run effectively.
Windows 95
Windows 95 second release
Windows NT Workstation 4.0
Windows 2000 Professional
Windows 98
Windows 98 SE
Windows ME
This section is pretty much self-explanatory.
Windows ME
Windows 98 SE
Windows ME
Windows 95 second release
Windows 95
Windows 2000 Professional
Windows NT Workstation 4.0
Which OS should you use? Again, if you're happy with the one you have, don't switch. Otherwise: If you enough about computers to determine whether or not your computer is compatible with Windows 2000 Professional, and you know how to fix any incompatibilities (update drivers, replace hardware) than you should use Windows 2000 Professional. Any in the IT field should also being using this OS. There's no reason for you to put up with the constant crashing and rebooting of the 98/SE/ME OS's. If you are not one of these people, I recommend Windows 98 or Windows 98 SE. You may also need one of these OS's if you play games that are older than two years, as they may not play on Windows 2000. I would try to avoid Windows ME as it is a resource hog and crashes a lot. I realize most new computers will come with this OS, but see if your dealer can't give you Windows 98 SE, instead.
These are my opinions, base on articles, talking to many people, and personal experience. I'm sure many people will argue with my rankings.