I feel like paid $199 just so Microsoft can sell me to advertisers. Bill never would of stood for this shit.
http://www.howtogeek.com/243263/how-to-disable-ads-on-your-w...
https://www.extremetech.com/computing/218437-dell-laptops-ma...
https://www.reddit.com/r/assholedesign/comments/5e7kwl/windo...
Windows XP, Vista, 8. I mean even if these fuck ups haven't brought Linux market share above rounding error, nothing will.
One thing that could make desktop Linux viable - is throwing transparency, openess, customizability and all similar "good" Linux stuff through the window, having a dictatorship with good UX people and forcing users to one true way.
People do not care that they can tinker with their desktop - I really do not care that I cannot make my macOS or Windows look like screenshots in unixporn subreddit - I just want an experience that's concise, the same for every application, polished, clean, lean, etc etc etc. Windows had this in Windows 7 (10th version with UWP programs for tablets really disturbs the UX), macOS still has this.
Elementary and especially Solus distributions are doing that - "oooh you want X? well screw you buddy, that's poor UX".
Vista was a major screw up. I didn't mind Windows 8 as much. But yeah if those mess ups don't sway people, nothing will.
The main reason people don't switch is just lack of familiarity, driver issues and unsupported software - all driven by network effects.
There's very little about the OS itself which is preventing adoption. It's entirely about the ecosystem.
That pretty much requires a fuck up on the part of Windows or Mac to drive people to use Linux.