I think this is just a kinda microcosm for why Windows is successful in general. Because they have a sales force and support that markets to and is geared arou

I think this is just a kinda microcosm for why Windows is successful in general. Because they have a sales force and support that markets to and is geared around companies. Their developer ecosystem is heavily geared towards corporate systems as well. It's surprising that a smart HN blogger can't put himself into somebody else's shoes for a second. When you're a manager and your boss tells you to go install some kiosks, chances are good that you're going to go out there and get some proposals. You're gonna pick whichever one of them best represents themselves, has a price that you want and seems like they'll be there when you need their support. You're probably not going to go with whoever is the most "cool" or "bleeding edge." You're almost definitely not going to try to put together an open source solution yourself just to save a few thousand bucks on OS licenses. It's just as simple as that. Windows kiosks are in use because there are a lot of people out there selling Windows Kiosk solutions. If at some point another system manages to get a decent marketshare and has sales people out there writing proposals - then you'll start to see more of those.