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Yes, hackers, both the computer programmer variety, and the illegal amd malicious user of computers variety, use all operating systems.

David 'cdlu' Graham
Linux.com NewsVac editor

i r teh hax0rz anz i sh4llz r00t ur he4d.

Okay, that was lame, but I really wanted to do it. Now that it's out of my system, I have to agree with JohnnyCroddy and expand on his explanation.

The first thought that usually runs through the normal end-users mind when they hear the term hacker is as follows: Malicious, money-hungry, pre-pubescent kids in their unwashed clothes sitting in a dark room in front of a bright computer screen trying to break into innocent peoples computers, disrupt the technological end of the government, and create evil viruses to roam around the internet and cause mayhem. These are your "super" crackers.

These people do exist, but in rare cases. They, more than likely, use a basic Unix shell and absolutely nothing else. This is because it allows them absolute access to build an absolute operating system that only sends or receives the information that the person wants. They, in that sense, do not use Linux. A NORMAL cracker may use either Linux OR Windows, simply based on their preference. They write scripts that will run on the base of their chosen operating system and run those scripts with malicious purposes. The last and most basic version of the cracker is referred to in the "-Hat" world as a script-kiddie. They normally use Windows and download scripts written for research, then use those scripts to cause trouble.

Now a REAL hacker is exactly as JohnnyCroddy pointed out. Hackers work for the federal government, small business, security firms, high schools, colleges, universities, and just about anywhere that has a network. Any "admin" can be considered a hacker in that he is at least somewhat qualified to hack into and modify the systems on his network. Anybody studying for a network administration, network security, information security, or even a programming degree is essentially studying to become a hacker.

Hackers are also referred to by a "-Hat" system: White-Hats (normal, non-malicious hackers), Black-Hats (crackers), and Grey-Hats (border-line hackers/crackers).

Ultimately, the answer to your question is like an undefined variable. There is a large portion of each population in the world of programming that uses Windows, another large portion that uses Linux, and another that dual-boots. It's hard to say what they will use, but maybe we will someday have some studies... Possibly the visit information from illmob.org would be a good indicator, but until IllWill gets out of jail, we probably won't have any access to that information.

Hackers DO use linux
Hackers ALSO use windows
Hackers ALSO use Unix

But hackers generally don't "take over someones computer" as the media has portrayed. Crackers do that type of thing, and they are usually (as said before) little 12 yr olds with no life who downloaded a publicly available script and tried it on a random IP address. (these are also called script-kiddies, or skiddies for short)
Normal (white hat) hackers are just programmers and IT pros who generally work for a company or organization to keep their networks safe.

Hackers don't use all the OS's. They pick up the one that is well suited to their needs and shape it up. well... they know how to operate all the OS's and if they dont they make sure to learn it cause its learning ,reading and trying out things that makes a hacker not the OS.

/nc