GNU/Linux
For a programmer, the Unix like environment provided by GNU/Linux is miles ahead of what is available on Windows. It is extremely easy to install most of the development tools with just a single command.
I switched from Windows to GNU/Linux over a series of steps.
- starting with using Cygwin under Windows
- using GNU/Linux inside a VM
- dual booting
Cygwin has been superceeded by Windows Subsystem for Linux.
My current distribution is Kali Linux, a Debian derivative with a rolling release based on Debian Testing. Other rolling release distros include Tumbleweed and Arch (Manjaro, EndeavourOS)
Using the kali-last-snapshot branch for more stability as it undergoes release testing. All else fails, there is linux recovery
Setting up Sidux on Toshiba NB305-A101
The Linux scheduler: a decade of wasted cores