Red Hat Enterprise Linux -rhel- 6.2 Workstation

The RHEL 6.2 kernel was based on Linux kernel 2.6.32-220. Red Hat is famous for backporting features—taking newer technologies and integrating them into an older, stable kernel base. 6.2 included backported support for newer hardware drivers and file system optimizations that the vanilla 2.6.32 kernel did not possess. This allowed RHEL 6.2 to run on hardware released years after the kernel's original inception.

A 9/10 for stability and enterprise features. Loses one point for being now obsolete, but historically, it was the gold standard for technical workstations in the 2010s. Red Hat Enterprise Linux -Rhel- 6.2 Workstation