A fast and smooth OS, that's either Linux or Mac. Let's take a look:
-Mac has the advantage of being fast and quite stable. MacBooks are often regarded as MultiMedia-laptops, so they will do the trick nicely. They are fast because they come with Flash-memory harddrives. These are incredibly fast compared to the regular harddrives found in laptops, causing MacBooks to load applications and files fast.
The major downside to Macbooks is that, like every Apple product, they leave you with little freedom. Apple products are mostly only compatible with other Apple hardware, so you can't simply connect any hard drive to it.
Windows has a VAST amount of programs at it's disposal. By this I mean that you can download and run almost any free or paid program on Windows, as it's the king of the market. On Mac, this is not the case, though you can still install a Windows Application Executor, like WINE, to run WIndows Apps.
Pro:
- Fast and stable
- Regarded as MultiMedia laptops due to good graphical performances
- Light and portable. Strong casing.
- Very safe. Mac has nearly no viruses or malware.
Con:
- Expensive
- Little freedom, Apple 'decides what you can and cannot do'
- Not as many programs as Windows or Linux
- Every Apple-addition or hardware costs money and is expensive.
Next up is Linux. Linux is relatively unknown but is gaining popularity fast. It's lightweight, which means that it will always run fast, even on an old system. This is what Linux was designed for. Linux is very stable, and will almost never crash, compared to Windows and even Mac. Linux has a VAST array of open-source applications to it's disposal, including some advanced graphical programs like Blender, Cinelerra, InkScape, Scribus, FFMPEG, etc. Some of these are hitting the industry standards, and are Linux-only. You can install them easily from a Software Center, which is similar to Android's App Store (Android is a Linux Distrobution too!). Linux has open-source alternatives to just about any kind of program you need. LibreOffice replaces the expensive MS Office, VLC replaces Windows Movie Maker, etc...
The most popular Distros are Linux Mint and Ubuntu. These are general, all-round distro's. There are many others, but they are oftenly tailored to suit a specific public (writers, designers, programmers, etc...)
Pro:
- Linux is fast and stable, even on 15-year old hardware.
- Linux is free (as in free speech and free beer). 99% of all Linux distro's are free to download and install.
- Linux has a vast community of people ready to help you. Each distro has it's own forum where you can ask questions for support.
- Installing software is easy, you only need to access the Software Repository (= Software Center) from where you can install it in a click. No complicated installation procedures required.
- Linux does not need to reboot as often as Windows or Mac. You can let Linux run on an activated computer forever, and it won't slow down. Only some updates require a reboot.
- Linux has nearly no viruses or malware, and the ones that exist are very easy to remove.
Con:
- Linux cannot run every Windows application. Many paid software like PhotoShop, Sony Vegas etc... won't run well on Linux. Despite this, WINE is also available for Linux to run Windows applications.
- Linux is quite worthless for gaming, but since you mentioned that you don't do that a lot, there's no problem with that.
Why not try for yourself? Linux is easy to dualboot. Using YUMI
www.pendrivelinux.com/yumi-multiboot-usb-creator/
or PenDrive Linux
www.pendrivelinux.com
you can boot it from a USB drive without installing it on your system. You can do this to see which Distro you like, and to see if Linux is your thing. The bootable USB drive will include an application to install Linux on your system. You can even install Linux next to Windows, so you have both! in this case, a menu will pop up when booting your computer, asking you which OS you want to boot into.