Recs.
Updated
SpecsUpdate
Pros
Pro Easy to build graphical applications
Visual Studio makes it very easy to develop graphical applications (Xcode on OS X is also very good). Libraries and tools are included and standardized. If you want to build a cross-platform graphical application, all commonly available toolkits work on Windows (See here for the high-level widget toolkits).
Only Cocoa, the native OS X interface, and LessTif, an abandoned clone of Motif, aren't available on Windows.
Pro Availability of .NET Framework
Windows has .NET Framework with easier to develop software like Windows Forms, Windows Presentation Foundation, Universal Windows App. With Mac and Linux, just Mono and .NET Core available, not easy to develop GUI app.
Pro GUI Tools instead of CLI tools
Using IIS, you can host most of web apps with it's IIS manager, which is completely GUI based; that's an advantage for beginner, if they do not wish to learn BASH or typing in commands. Also, GUI logs and GUI system settings(group security, security policies) means that it is much easier to set up a test environment. ( e.g. to change permission for a folder, you can do so in the context menu, Linux has a very basic GUI version of chmod and it's even worse in macOS).
Pro Bash shell
Windows has a binary compatible Bash shell to run Linux apps natively.
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-au/commandline/wsl/about
Pro Best hardware support
If the hardware exist it usually has a driver for windows. If you development with NVIDIA CUDA, Windows is better choice. NVIDIA driver now not working with Mac OS 10.14 higher, and NVIDIA Linux driver is so limited support. With NVIDIA driver for Windows and WSL 2 GPU, this more easier to development CUDA API.
Pro Has official support multiple graphic API and support multi-third parties game SDK
Windows has multi support: DirectX, OpenGL, Vulkan. And support multi third party game SDK like Sony Play Station, Nintendo. Also mobile graphic API OpenGL ES. It also support compile Apple Metal Shading Language. Google also support Android game development on Visual Studio.
https://www.macrumors.com/2020/07/11/metal-developer-tools-windows/
https://youtu.be/JXQBdMNDL7k
Pro Ubuntu bash shell
Windows has a binary compatible Ubuntu shell to run non-Windows apps natively.
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-au/commandline/wsl/about
Cons
Con Not free and core components are locked
Windows is commerical-ware, so you have to pay for a Windows License ( or it comes with your computer), to get some features, you have to pay a premium for professional or ultimate edition ( HyperV for example); also you cannot modify the core system components, you can uninstall them, but you cannot modify them, which is a deal breaker for operating system developers.
Con More difficult than other OS to set up a proper standards-compliant dev environment
When it comes to command line industry standards, those are dictated by unix and unix-like environments. Thus, it's slightly more difficult to setup a standards-compliant environment on Windows than on Linux (or OSX). Again, this can be mitigated by installing a Linux VM or installing Ubuntu on Windows.
Con While many tools are available, hard to track down
Many tools for Windows are hosted on their own websites, meaning that the user will need to learn of them to then download them off of individual sites. This can be time consuming. A good place to start would be here.
Con Not a UNIX system
Windows is not a UNIX system. Although it can install WSL then install Linux app, but WSL still header transition layer converted Linux API to Windows API counterpart.
Con There are some privacy issues
SOME privacy issues?
The whole OS is a security minefiled.
Con Maintenance is time-consuming
Previous versions needed to be formatted every 6 months to maintain performance.
Recommendations
Comments
Flagged Pros + Cons
Pro Larger installed base and market for selling your programs
If you want to make a living as a programmer making desktop applications, you'll be able to support, and earn money from, a larger installed base of Windows users.
Second most common desktop is OS X, and by far, the least common is Linux. If you want to make server apps, Linux is probably the most common for public sites, followed by Windows. There are a lot of Windows servers in the business world.
Out of Date Pros + Cons
Con Weak default terminal
The standard terminal lacks basic features that Linux and OSX has. Alternatives to the default terminal for Window can be found here.
Con Lacks package management
It is not easy to install/keep current development packages that developers need and use.