What is the Best OS for programming C++ and Designing graphics

[Nikhil Joshua]

As my windows 8 is corrupted, I dont have a recovery partition, I wanted to move to another Free Operating System like Linux or Unix. I just wanted to take an advice for professionals about the operating system I wanted to install.

[Geek-9pm]

Windows 7 is well known. Works good
Linux Mint is reliable. Well supported.
Your choice.
More modern software tools are available in Windows. Fort example, many commercial programs require either C++ or .NET libraries from Microsoft ft.

Personally, I stick with MS, but I am no longer working in IT. Many commercial web sites use  only Linux and its tools on the servers.

[Salmon Trout]

From Windows 8 to "another free operating system"? Like "Linux or Unix"? Neither Windows 8 nor Unix are free. (The name "Unix" properly refers to AT&T’s original UNIX operating system, which is not free.)

[camerongray]

There is no best operating system - It really just comes down to personal preference.

Try a bunch of linux distributions out - Ubuntu/Mint/Elementary are great "starter" distros and have good support around them.  Linux distributions are obviously free so just download a bunch of them and try them out.

[Geek-9pm]

camerongray, What you said is right on. This is nor a disagreement, but ans inspection of your point.

The OP needs to consider his objectives, and/or preferences.
In any case, all the stuff  over  seven years old is already dated.
Does the OP already have some time spent on any  traditional programming?
IMHO, if he does not have at least six months s of work in a traditional programming structure, he should re consider is whole objective.

A commended read:
http://radar.oreilly.com/2013/01/the-future-of-programming.html

Programming is changing. The PC era is coming to an end, and software developers now work with an explosion of devices, job functions, and problems that need different approaches from the single machine era. In our age of exploding data, the ability to do some kind of programming is increasingly important to every job, and programming is no longer the sole preserve of an engineering priesthood.

You see, it is not me saying this. As for me. I am now a very  old dog. If I were 30 years younger, I would drop C++ like a dead toad.

[m_ilad__]

Stick to the same OS. ( Windows 8 )
You can use Microsoft Visual Studio for Programming in C++,
And for designing, windows 7 or 8 are the best ones.

[DaveLembke]

I also agree that why not stick with Windows 8 that the system came with. If this system came with a legal copy of Windows 8, then you can contact the computer manufacturer and purchase replacement system recovery media for usually $35 or less.

As for Linux Distros go, my favorite is MINT KDE and MINT Cinnamon, although if you want to play video games that normally run on Windows, you may find that some will work with WINE, while others will degrade thru WINE or wont work at all through WINE.

As far as a title to this discussion which is kind of offset to the initial post, there are some really cool programs written in C++ that were developed under Linux for Linux, however if developing C++ programs from Windows, you will really want to develope them using Windows as the OS to base them from for testing etc. Especially if you are planning on using .NET which is pretty much explicitly Microsoft OS, however there is the Mono Project that ties .Net to Linux http://www.mono-project.com/Main_Page but of which I have not played with mono yet.