There are other limitations it surpasses as well over using windows. For example windows has a 15 client connection limit on its consumer OSes. So, if you were at like a LAN party, for example for all your gamers, that had 45 people in it, only 15 could connect to a single share at a time and copy over whatever mod or what not you were planning on playing. Linux's SMB connection has no limit. If you want more than 15 connections at once you are forced into buying windows server. Most of you would probably never really need to share something out to more than 15 users at once.
Linux is free yes it is, however, I would never run a business on FOSS Linux. I would use enterprise Linux distros which you pay for. Granted I have a few file servers right now running RAID 5 and file sharing for the graphic design department. This is simply file storage, so its not like there is anything really too complicated. We have some Compaq dual XEON w/ RAID 5 servers sitting around doing nothing with no OS on them so I put ubuntu on them. That way it cost us nothing to set them up, and the servers were purchased a few years ago and never got deployed because they were not needed. How the open source market works is that the pay for Linux distros and other various technology companies donate money to the open source communities and they develop it. Then the Linux companies adapt what is good into enterprise level linux or keep it out there to get their product out. It is a 500 million dollar per a year business, so its not free, they are making money. When you go download Open Suse, Novell is not developing that OS at all, in fact they have nothing to do with it other than donate money to the open source project. Why would companies do this? They have a whole world of open source developers furthering their product, improving it, adding innovations to it, etc. Beryl/Compiz is now adopted into enterprise level Linux. A lot of you that have the Linux sucks mind set and have only used free versions of Linux. Go buy redhat enterprise or Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop. You will see how everything is tons easier, there is more support and so on and so forth. You have to pay for those licenses.
As for it not being compatible I am not sure exactly what you people mean. Gaming, sure its not compatible but only a small percentage of people are actually gamers. It is a niche market. Linux is also a niche market. I am not saying Linux is perfect, because it is not, no OS is.
However, using, supporting, and running Linux/OS X/Windows professionally for 9 years now, and on my own for over 12 to 13, I can say that windows is the most bloated, crappiest OS out there when it comes to security and performance. I mean WTF is the system registry? GET RID OF IT! Windows is easy to use and most people can't handle change or have some preconceived notion that a Mac isn't compatible.
I just recently was asked by my parents to look up getting a new computer for them. My dad is 60 and has pretty much never used a computer in his life. I am getting them a Mac. I told my Dad to ask his IT guy what applications he would need to run for work so he asked him. His IT guy told him that a Mac would not be compatible and he should get a PC. My father needs two things, word processing and spread sheets. yeah, um, any computer and any OS can do that and even MS supports XML formats (in their own screwed up MS sort of way) now. So, not only are people completely misinformed they even spread more ignorance.
You can't compare windows to linux to mac os x, because they are all different. I am sorry, you can't compare them directly, but you can compare them on how they operate since they are all operating systems.
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