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I think the shoddiness is the crux of the matter.

If Microsoft had a truly superior product I think Linux wouldn't stand a chance. The problem is that Microsoft has operated too long from the inovation of lawyers and MBAs... new "features" in Microsoft tend to be either somewhat coontrived as opposed to market driven, else are blatantly aimed at tightening down on the user license, or trying to make MS files and programs harder to reverse engineer so as to force users to stay with MS -- which is after all Microsoft's right, just as it is the markets right to reject this move, which is what we are seeing.

IBM tried this sort of thing once with the famous PS2 which used proprietary, closed, hardware -- the market did not follow IBM on this and Compaq left the IBM PC in the dust.

Right you are. The free market will drive software forward. If and when Linux or Mac offer a product that consumers find meets their needs better than MS, it will sell.

So far they haven't done it.

I think it is because standardization is the key factor in software purchases for business. The majority of home computer users who also use computers at work, choose the same software they use at work. When people start using Linux or Mac (and the related products) at work, the market will shift.

Windows wasn't the first operating system and Office wasn't the first Word Processing/Spreadsheet/Database program. It won't be the last.

Linux may be the answer in a few years, but not for the immediate future. It's not right yet. Mac has shown no indication that it is going to take over the market.

IMHO, we are entering a new era in software. The big 3 applications are becoming mature and have more features than users need. Microsoft has grown large and unwieldy. Unless their management does something to foster creativity and keep beaurocracy out of the way, they will be passed by smaller companies that can act quickly.

If the next killer app. runs on Linux and not Windows, Windows will die a slow death.