The actual problem is identification of hardware and OS

The actual problem is identification of hardware and OS

Mainstream users don't switch to Linux because they are scared of something foreign taking over their PC. The barrier is largely psychological. Many people switch from Windows PCs to Macs - and vice versa. They all adapt to the differences in the GUI quickly because they accept that it is a different machine. (Even though this is not so true anymore.)

A "PC" however is commonly identified as a unity of x86-Hardware and the Windows OS. Most people don't even know exactly which part of the user experience comes from the hardware and which from the software. Changing from a Windows PC to a Mac is like switching from a Ford to a Toyota, with some things expected to work differently. But if Linux gets installed on a PC previously running Windows, it turns one machine into something else, just as if one would enter one's Ford and find its internals - seats, pedals, wheels, switches and controls - rebuilt into a Toyota. Just as the car won't "feel right" to the driver, the converted PC won't feel right to the user.

In other words: Linux will stay alien and be perceived as a trojan horse having taken over one's system unless it behaves 100% like Windows. And if some hardware component shouldn work - a "WinModem", a graphics card, a webcam, a WLAN adaptor - or there's no drop-in replacement of a familiar software application, the system won't be accepted by the user. Sooner or later, it will be reverted to the familiar Windows.

IMHO a working Linux desktop strategy for mainstream users needs to refocus from OS installations on existing PC hardware to a platform strategy similar to the Apple Macintosh: computers with 100% Linux-supported components (without the need of proprietary drivers or third-party patches), a pre-installed, simple to use, plug-and-play, 100% free distribution (Ubuntu IMHO), built as boxes that also look differently from an ordinary PC, with a Penguin logo where a Mac would have an Apple logo.

For lay computer users, the choice to be made should be that of a [Windows] PC, a Mac or a Linux computer. It's not just desirable from a strategic marketing standpoint, but would also help to support and propagate computer hardware with open specifications and free driver support.