Macintosh with OS X and Microsoft Windows XP have an advantage over Linux in the area of education where curriculum demands exists for things such as foreign languages courses. The inability to provide for educational demand holds Linux back.

Until commodity hardware manufacturers and Independent Software Vendors make their products available for Linux, the demographics in the desktop area will remain fairly constant. The exception remains in the mid-level desktop area. Analysts will continue to tout Windows for enterprises until ISVs port their software offerings to Linux or until adequate replacements exist.

For both hardware and software manufacturers the prospects of creating offerings for Linux involve significant risks. For example, an ISV may not recover Research and Development costs since the Linux community prefers free software.