Bubble phenomenon: We, who are familiar with it, know the limitations and can deal with the differences, think it’s the superior platform. But that isn’t an objective and universally understood fact when you factor in the UI/UX benefits of a single, largely uniform platform like Windows that people are already used to.

Particularly given the fact that “Linux” isn’t any single OS and switching is liable to confuse, intimidate and paralyse people with the sheer wealth of choices, the pre-experience of even considering to use Linux is horrible. How many different “which distro should I choose?” guides and discussions have you seen?

Linux is great in many things, but for the average user, the first problem starts even before the actual platform. Until the community at large agrees on and promotes one or two easy starter / transition distros that “just work” for all the essentials, that hurdle alone will disqualify it from being the universally superior platform. Its great strength - the plethora of choices - is its biggest weakness in the one regard that matters most for encouraging people to switch.

By and large, Linux advocates are technically-minded people. We approach systems and platforms differently. We underestimate the value of UX and particularly the pre-experience before deciding to use something for most people.