Hello World - Why Microsoft and Why Apple/Android?

Hello there. Hello world.

I can safely bet that about 90% of the people who is currently reading this post is running a window's operating system, whether it is Win7, Vista, XP, 2000, or even NE, it doesn't matter. And about another 6-8 % of you is on a Mac, and the rest on different distribution of Linux or Unix operating system. 

Well, that is to say that you are reading this post from a desktop, laptop, netbook, or ultrabook. If you are talking about mobile, then I bet it is either an Android or IOS5 tablet or smart phone or chromebook.

Why I was so sure about it? It was because Microsoft has been holding onto more than 90% of the market shares of home and business PCs for years, until the recent rise in mobile devices. 

Ironically, in many fields, Linux/Unix system and Macs out-performed PCs by a great amount, yet they only have a small population of users. 

Why? 

Was it because that the fields that Linux and Mac were extremely more powerful irrelevant to normal daily users? 

Why was Microsoft able to dominate this market for years with almost monopoly advantages?

Was it because Bill Gates marketed it so well back in the 70s and that it was easy to use?

Maybe not, because Apple had Macintosh back then.

Or was it because Microsoft OS was the default operating system that was installed on almost all home use PCs, and thus the people growing up with PCs get used to it and are unwilling to go through the trouble of changing the OS?

But that doesn't explain the reason that why people are willing to try new things nowadays, such as iPads and Android tablets which are eating away lots of market shares in the industry.

I am a software engineer and I thought, (yes, thought), that everything had some sort of a reason or a cause. But seeing this unbelievable trend of Windows supporters in the past and now the Apple supporters, I am doubting my belief. 

Another angle that I attack this topic would be the environment. The majority of the market of PC industry, to be frankly honest, is not in the home PCs but in the business PCs, systems, and servers. A standard business server can cost several times more than a very high performance home desktop, and yes, including the famous expense Alienware. Why are big companies constantly insisted on using Windows, and some even go to the extend of using pirated Windows copies? Linux and Unix are great for servers, and most of them have free distribution on the internet. But no, they companies insisted on paying up in the millions to Microsoft, or risked several years of jail sentence and heavy fines to pirate the Windows.

At this point I want to throw out question that "was this even a sensible action, or it is simply a result of a blind trust in the same system and brand (Microsoft) from the past?"

Or is it because that majority of home PCs are windows, and thus there is less cost for companies to train the new employee by having the same system in the company?

Finally, why and how does Apple and Android break this "monopoly" advantage in the mobile device and start hurting Microsoft so badly?