Why programmers think Mac OS X is the best OS to use. Dmitri Zagidulin, a distributed systems engineer, sums up the change: “Go to a tech conference or developer event.

Jolicloud (Linux-based, Free). Jolicloud is the most distinctly netbook-oriented operating system in this Hive Five. It's not just pretty good on a netbook—it was actually designed from the ...

OS X or Windows might fit the bill better, depending on the user’s needs. When you get right down to it, it’s very hard to even define what the “best” operating system is for computers.

Take your entire operating system on your flash drive with the excellent portable operating systems you'll find inside this week's Hive Five. Photo by Marcin Wichary .