Linux? In 1993 kernel was not even v1? And the distributions didn't exist? Linux was a text based toy back then, with nothing for those who needed the user space GUI programs running on 3.11 or 95, and who couldn't afford to have a computer to run the NT which was released in 1993. Since 1993 there was a safe Windows system, anybody using a less safe one, like 3.11, 95, 98, Me did that as a trade-off in order to be able to pay less for the hardware. Or to use a program which had used something that NT didn't have (an Linux surely even less). But even 3.11 already had a stable 32-bit core. Hardware was expensive then. Your memory is definitely not reflecting the actual state of that time.
Most people could not use Linux because it did not run Windows programs, or anyway because they did not feel competent to install it, but it needed no more machine than W95. OS/2 needed no more machine either, and would run Windows programs more reliably than Windows could, but cost real money and also had to be installed.
NT was pretty crashy back then, too, and a huge resource hog besides, and many Windows programs didn't run on it either. Vista was an even bigger hog. 10 is hundreds of times bigger, but RAM and disk got cheap, so we don't often notice.
At the time, people running Linux on the same hardware resented being obliged to shut down after six months to upgrade their OS or disk storage. Back then, Linux was much less professionally maintained, but if it ever crashed at all it was a big deal. OS/2 likewise.
Windows crashes were not just for tinkerers. In any office, secretaries and receptionists were very used to re-booting in midday, despite shutting the machines off every night. They considered it completely normal.