Some of the things that make Linux appealing in specialty niche markets like data centers and portable devices are its downfall in the desktop arena. The desktop arena needs standardization and consistency more than any other market.
The main problem is not Linux OS itself. It's the whole ecosystem - the applications that make the real difference between Win and LIN. If there are "industry standard" applications, especially corporate apps, such as Acrobat, Photoshop, MS Office, and all sorts of professional softwares, LIN will have a much better chance.
Agreed. Linux will never be a competitor if it doesn't have standards. Why are there tens of different package managers and package formats? To fulfill the ego of the developers and to create duplicate of effort where developers must spend time repackaging things when they could be improving current "standards" (no, .deb is not a standard).