1.) UI configurability. – Mac and Windows have the ability to look like Mac and Windows, which is partially good from a support perspective because a support person can tell the newbie user to look for the start button. In Linux window managers the possibility for configuration is nearly endless… which is great if you love to tweak the look of your machine and get the “wow” factor from someone looking over your shoulder. If you like the mac interface, customize your linux window manager to mimic the mac interface. If you want it to look like windows, use KDE(sorry, that's an out of date shot at the KDE folks ).

2.) When you say “collaborate” and then in the next section you say “do something new”, you realize that the two are somewhat contradictory. Sure there's lots of distributions which seem similar. However, as software decisions are made by the leadership on a project, those who disagree may be more inclined to branch the software on their disagreement in order to prove it's efficacy. Take for instance Compiz and Beryl. Beryl was a branch of Compiz in which the two worked on seemingly similar concepts that they probably could not have done in the same project. Eventually they merged back together, but in the end they benefited from the unfettered ability to try new things. Ubuntu is as welcoming as it is to the new user because it was not under the Debian umbrella. If they were simply committing to Debian, trying to install an Nvidia graphics driver would result in your system telling you that the new driver “taints the kernel” all the time. Don't get me wrong, the Debian folks have, in my opinion, built the strongest distribution for customization and a base for new distributions… but the practicality of their strong free software stance holds back their penetration into the new user market and promotes the idea that you have to be a zealot or a programmer to use Linux.

So, you see, while it may push things forward faster if we all joined hands, picked a “best of breed” and set out to kill the butterfly, it would kill the innovation that is happening all the time in the open source world. And usually, the innovations that are really good end up getting roped into the other distributions anyway. And Linux is already ahead in some things. Ideas are tried and either accepted or discarded far faster in the Linux world than they are anywhere else, which is why Aero and Leopard look so lame in comparison to what Compiz can do.

In the end, it's your computer who should follow your commands, not the other way around. Look at it through this analogy. If you want to jump off a cliff, Windows will prompt you at every step, “Are you sure you want to do this?” A Mac will simply say, “Sorry, I can not allow you to do this.” Linux, depending on the distro, might suggest a parachute. Other than that, it assumes you aren't going to do anything you actually don't want to do.

The original designer of the anime girls posted it there…

I still use Windows but because I have to. As a pro photographer Carbonite, APC tools and Adobe are everyday needs for my professional PC. My personal laptop has been Linux for years.

Someone said Windows has easier to install apps, now that made me laugh!!