Best OS to mine bitcoins?

[Watermen]

Which OS is considered the most efficient to mine BTC?

[HeShootsHeScores]

Which OS is considered the most efficient to mine BTC?

I think I read windows is, due to best ATI driver support.  May not be true anymore

[GiLa]

it is what ever you are Proficient with

[ArmoredDragon]

Here's an interesting question: Modern OS's tend to utilize GPU to make rasterization of the UI more efficient and clean (e.g. reduced aliasing, tearing, etc.) Windows is no exception. That said, what is the best OS/configuration combo to be able to dedicate all of the GPU to just mining?

Linux is difficult to do this with as well, by the way. You actually have to use a screen blanking screensaver in order to avoid this. This is mainly caused by the fact that OpenCL refuses to run unless it has an X server running.

[torify]

You can edit the Windows registry.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

Edit SHELL replacing windows.exe with cmd.exe

Reboot and you get no desktop.

You get a command prompt, just like Safe Mode, but with all your drivers.

[gamelife859]

You can edit the Windows registry.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

Edit SHELL replacing windows.exe with cmd.exe

Reboot and you get no desktop.

You get a command prompt, just like Safe Mode, but with all your drivers.

and why would I want to do that?

[torify]

Similar to a core install in Windows Server.

On my machine I get about 1/3 the number of processes in Task Manager.

Everything works, but without all the bloat of a desktop I get a noticeable boost in performance.

Hash rates are similar, but there I see less lag when using the computer for other tasks.

[belcat]

From the cgminer documentation:

Q: Is it faster to mine on windows or linux?
A: It makes no difference. It comes down to choice of operating system for
their various features. Linux offers much better long term stability and
remote monitoring and security, while windows offers you overclocking tools
that can achieve much more than cgminer can do on linux.

[Jothand]

I mine with a windows box and a debian box and it seems to me that windows was easiest to set up. I think due to the fact that I was able to find more up to date documentation for windows when I ran into issues. As far as hash rates, they're very similar. I've only been mining a few weeks and haven't had any crashes on either OS yet so I can't really speak to stability.

[HeShootsHeScores]

You can edit the Windows registry.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

Edit SHELL replacing windows.exe with cmd.exe

Reboot and you get no desktop.

You get a command prompt, just like Safe Mode, but with all your drivers.

huh, this is very cool - thanks for the tip!!

(I assume you can run c:\windows\explorer.exe if you decide you want gui?)

[xibeijan]

Linux is probably the best!

[hashrateproducts]

Definitely linux if you plan on scaling up/out your mining operation. Just because remote management (SSH) becomes easier with more rigs, scripting and Windows sometimes has issues running more than 4 cards in a rig.

If you're a small operation, starting up or a novice just stick with Windows. Linux will drive you nuts unless you like learning something new 

[crew64m1]

Linux is probably the best!

Only when you're a linux guru or have one near you. Once I spent 1 day trying to build Unbuntu based rig.

[Tursk]

I guess biggest hurdle when setting up linux for GPU mining is installing fglrx, ATI/AMD RadeonHD display driver.
I'm using latest driver v13.4 packaged for Debian:

http://packages.qa.debian.org/f/fglrx-driver.html

[socrates_]

My individual findings.

Single Rig (getting started):   Windows > Linux > OSX (mac)
Cluster:    Linux > Windows > OSX

The economies of scale would only really kick in around 5+ machines to make linux worthwhile. And it relies on you feeling more comfortable with linux administration

[dokosten]

Windows 7

[dokosten]

Or Linux

[AndNorTar]

I was in the OS choice situation myself some time ago, and I ended up simply picking Windows 7, after seeing that a reasonable amout of high scores on the hardware/config list were done on Windows 7 machines.

If you have a spare USB stick lying around, BAMT Linux is sweet as well. It's super fast to set up, and the command line work is really not that difficult.

The only reason I chose Windows 7 over BAMT was comfort. I simply have more experience with Windows software than Linux software.

[nailedit]

Honestly, whatever you are familiar with

if it would take you an extra hour to figure out linux, thats 1 hour of mining you lost

[Yorzian]

It doesn't really matter, you should pick the one you're more comfortable with.

The more time you spend to maintain your system, to make it work, not crashing, the less time it mines.

I do prefer Linux, but it's because I know Linux way better than Windows.

However, mining on OS X is a tricky one, so, pick Windows or Linux as you prefer...