Spax or GRK make fantastic screws, but after using Robertson-drive screws all my life, Torx honestly sucks, for the simple reason that the screws don't stay on the bit very well. They will never strip out, but nothing holds the screw onto the bit except the magnet, so starting a screw one-handed is a bit finicky.

However, Robertson drive is a tapered square, which means the bit will lock into the screw with friction, and it can take quite a lot of force to separate them. To illustrate my point, I can put a Robertson screw on a drill, then hold onto the screw and swing the drill around without it falling.

Robertson and Torx are definitely better than philips.

The two have their own pros and cons though. Robertson definitely makes it easier to keep the screw on a bit. On the other hand, if you've ever had to work with stainless screws and a harder wood (somewhat common in quality built outdoor stuff), I'll take torx any day due to the decreased stripping risk.

Overall though both are still significant improvements over philips and slotted drives!

Philips drive is only good for drywall screws, because the cam-out is a feature. Robertson is ubiquitous in Canada; anything produced in or for the Canadian market tends to use it, and Philips is mostly only found in imported products. Although Tprx is getting more common for stuff like screwing down a subfloor or a deck.

I've slowly been replacing the original outlets in my 70s house, and for some reason they only used slotted drive screws, for everything.

It is way too easy to strip a philips head screw going into wood, so maybe they did mean torx head?

Most of the torx screws you'll find in boxes at a hardware store are deck screws anyway (at least around here), which are really good for attaching wood to wood. Good to be careful though.

A tip it took me too long to learn: using an impact driver will make it easier to avoid stripping Phillips screws than using a drill/driver. The way the impact driver delivers impulses at high torque just makes it easier to keep the bit properly engaged, since it kind of "resets" between each impact. The effect was so dramatic to me that the frustration saved was more than worth the cost of a mid-range cordless impact driver.

But a lot of carpenters do prefer square or torx drive just to avoid the whole problem.

I honestly hadn't thought about this, will give it a shot. I have a decent impact driver that came with my drill, and hardly ever use it. Thanks for the tip!

(although I will keep buying torx screws for the most part :D)

an impact will drive a 3" phillips no problem as long as its a decent quality screw. torx seem higher quality which usually eliminates the problem