But does dialect matter? I went newb-mode and got the lispbox CLISP version, and it seems pretty normal to me, but does dialect/implementation really matter? Lispbox is only available for Windows with Allegro or CLISP, but does it matter that much?What's /prog/'s favorite implementation?
I use SBCL, probably one of the fastest and it's stable, works well on both *nix and win*(even if it's not considered stable, I've never had problems with it).
CLisp is also a good choice for those times when you need more debugging data.
Clozure CL is also worth a try, but I haven't found it as stable.
I haven't played much with ACL, but I hear it's good. LispWorks is also nice and has a decent stepper, for those rare situations.