Linux isn't really a standard user option unless they happen to have a college degree in CS.
It is slow to boot, falls over, over nothing and is a nightmare to configure and customize. AND if it goes titz up, which is not as uncommon as the fan club would have you believe, you are stuffed without that CS Degree to fall back on.
Windows has always been & always will be the most versatile and universal OS on the planet. A complete novice can use it straight out of the box.
For me, Windows 8 is superb. It's ideal for those who have touch devices but I will concede the GUI is not very useful without and would recommend people on non touch devices stay with 7, which IMHO was the best Windows ever..
What has always tickled me about Enigma boxes is that the vast majority of tools developed for it are for Windows. Had that not been the case I may have stuck with a UNIX based OS, Linux/OSX.
As an early adopter I am quite excited about Windows 9 and can't wait for it to be released to me for eval. From what I have seen already I know I will be upgrading across the board if the launch price should happen match that which was set for the Windows 8 release.
Can't wait to talk with Cortana!