I would put forth an alternative theory with two parts: the smaller factor is that Linux was a better for web servers than Windows Server and the explosion of t

I would put forth an alternative theory with two parts: the smaller factor is that Linux was a better for web servers than Windows Server and the explosion of the business impact of the web sent developers toward workflows that played nicely with Linux. The bigger factor is that smartphones allowed competitors to get a reset on the playing field for the consumer market. Mac marketshare was in single digits until the iPhone took hold (yes, even after the success of the iPod), and we still had Microsoft dominating the market with over 80% marketshare as of 2018 (macOS has only hit double digit marketshare percentage as of about 2016, roughly doubling to over 20% from that time until today). https://www.statista.com/statistics/218089/global-market-share-of-windows-7/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/218089/global-market-sha... As an edit, maybe I’d add factor number 3: web-based business applications. I would say that Google’s business productivity suite set businesses free to be much more platform agnostic, along with other tools that moved from installed desktop applications to web.