Cheryl, you really are clueless, aren't you? People are creatures of habit. The vast majority of casual computer users know windows and maybe dos. As long as it works most of the time, only people who like new challenges will be bothered with learning a new operating system. It has been stated ad nauseum in numerous places that apple has better everything, unix is more robust and secure, and linux is open source and somehow better. Apple lost the race for mindshare because they pursued a premium price strategy. Most unix solutions are similarly priced out of reach for the average consumer. Linux is simply too arcane for all but avid techies. There are single purpose boxes out there for any application in sufficient demand. There are game consoles, word processors, net surfer boxes, etc. But when you get right down to it, most people want a box that can do a little bit of everything and they want to pay $500 to $1500 for it. If something else comes along to replace wintel, rest assured the bright, restless minds of future adolescents will find ways to write viruses, trojan horses, etc., for whatever the platform of the time happens to be. Unless your system is isolated from outside connections and physically kept under lock and key it will be vulnerable. The more popular the platform, the greater the vulnerability. It all comes down to price/performance calculations in the minds of the buyers. For the forseeable future, nothing comes close to wintel in percieved price/performance for the great masses of average joes who want a jack of all trades box.
Steve |
