Maddogk - I own no stocks in M$, nor am I a developer - for them or anyone else.
For the majority of users, there are a lot of choices. What flavor gui would you like running Linux? Want something that looks and acts like windows, just with different logos and some minor differences? Its out there, in spades. Productivity software? Open Office works find on Linux or Mac. WINE even allows you to play windows based games, All for free.
The market hasn't moved to this because people don't like change. So complain to the people that don't like to change what they do, instead of about the company that makes it easy for them to just "keep doing".
Seriously - you shouldn't judge people based on one snippet and your own anti-whatever attitude. I know network and system security. I am not beholden to one entity. Not Cisco, not Bay Area, not HP or Dell, and not M$ or Sun either.
The OP tone was "anything is better than xxxx" - and I simply proved that the "anythings" mentioned had their share of problems. Hate it that it rubbed against your anti-M$ veiwpoint, but thats your problem, not mine.