When comparing Microsoft Windows Desktop vs Haiku, the Slant community recommends Haiku for most people. In the question“What are the best Operating Systems for x86 PCs?” Haiku is ranked 1st while Microsoft Windows Desktop is ranked 3rd.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Best universal Hardware support
Since Windows runs on the majority of PCs it supports almost any hardware you can find.
Pro Cheap
You can buy a legal key for ~$15.
Pro Best Software support
The majority of software is available for Windows. You can find a software for any task.
Pro Backwards compatibility
It can even run software that was made over 20 years ago.
Pro Basic Linux support
With a growing subsystem in active development and a stated goal of eventual full cross compatibility.
Pro Very fast
Pro Beta has been released
After about 6 years since the alpha version, beta has been released on Fri, 2018-09-28. Check here for release notes.
Pro Only need 512mb ram
Pro Stability
Pro Runs perfectly on old Hardware
Cons
Con Data collection
Per default Microsoft is collecting many data on newer Windows versions, and it is very unconfortable to turn them just off(eg you have to do it for every service seperately...)
Con Vulnerable
Due its high distribution and the use of many third party code(eg: software/drivers) it is more vulnerable than any other OS.
Con Not free/open source
Con Tied to Microsoft
Windows suggests the use of Microsoft services (however, it does not force it like Apple does)
Con Terrible and inconsistent UI/UX
Con Not modular/Big fat package
Due all the included drivers, 32bit compatiblty packages and Applications/utilities Windows 10 64Bit needs ~20 gb of hard disk space.
Con Poor performance
Windows is slower than Linux in many cases.
Con Low current cross compatibility
Unix support requires many tweaks and installations of secondary software. No MacOS support and few choices for Apple’s olderOSX and System software. All via third party.
Con No one uses it
It's a very niche OS that no one uses.
Con Unfinished
It's still in beta and quite unstable. Making it unsuitable for developing applications of any kind.
Con Language support is terrible
Con Small community
It is important when developing to be familiar with tools that other developers use. You can make any utility in any language you feel like, but if it's in an esoteric language that no one can read targeting a small platform that no one uses, then it was just something you did as a hobbyist, not as a developer.
This is not to say that Haiku isn't a great operating system to hack around on. Just don't delude yourself into thinking you're doing it to get familiar with tools that you need to know to be a better developer.