Agreed that most people still have a Windows OS in front of them. But the wild card on the upswing now is mobile - which Microsoft has very little strength in.

Agreed that most people still have a Windows OS in front of them. But the wild card on the upswing now is mobile - which Microsoft has very little strength in. Also, web applications provide real diversity of application experience beyond the Windows OS. For a lot of people, applications like email, twitter, photo-sharing, game playing, social networking etc.. are no longer tied to a particular desktop client operating system. Indeed, Social Networking, where people spend enormous amounts of time, is an example where I would say the Desktop OS is as irrelevant as your BIOS.