Windows 7 Ultimate for me. I still kept it as a boot option on my main PC until about a year ago because I thought I still needed it for a couple windows apps and games.
I tried Win8 at one point and hated the changes. I also tried Win10 and one of those “forced bloody updates” bricked my machine so I said ‘fuck that’ for good.
I’ve dabbled in Linux for 20 years, and run Ubuntu on my living room HTPC for at least a dozen. My main PC runs EndeavourOS now and even gaming has been pretty great.
Retro Games Corps got hit, even though Russ only does legal emulation and backups. It’s his “2nd strike” on YouTube (3rd is channel deletion). He’s always been mindful of the situation and considerate of not spoiling games or encouraging anything close to piracy from what I’ve seen.
Source: Nerd Nest where he often guests.