Linux vs Windows: What do programmers use.

I was woundering if it is a common theme for most "Pro" programmers to use linux. I mean a book called C;Programming I have was written on linux. So which OS is it that programmers or hackers, per say, use?

It depends on what libraries you are using, what platforms you are targeting, and what language you're using.

For learning programming it does not matter. Every OS will have a C compiler.

Of course if you are using DirectX, Win32, .NET, COM, etc., there is no question that you need to develop on Windows. There aren't any languages I can think of that are difficult or impossible to use on Windows. So if you want maximum choice without getting used to more than one interface, I'd say go with Windows.

Do you like IDEs? Then there is no substitute for Visual Studio. There is also nothing stopping you from going text editor (Vim and Emacs work on Windows) and CLI (PowerShell) route in Windows.

You should use Linux if you are specifically targeting Linux to the exclusion of other platforms. You _can_ use Linux if what you are doing is platform agnostic (like Java). Web dev is not platform agnostic because of IE.

Most professional programmers use Windows, for reasons I hope are evident.