That simply isn't true. The Kernel is just one aspect of a Linux distribution. The part that is most responsible for supporting H/W. It has evolved a lot since

That simply isn't true. The Kernel is just one aspect of a Linux distribution. The part that is most responsible for supporting H/W. It has evolved a lot since 1996. Whenever I try I find the range of supported H/W is larger than Windows and (obviously) Apple. On other fronts things have changes radically: Video, Sound, 3D/GL, GUI (KDE, Gnome), printing, etc, etc.