Linux will beat Microsoft, because Microsoft builds software for techies

No, I haven't gone insane ... it was in an opinion piece by a software consultant I read (somewhat worth reading) - his main point was that Microsoft was alienating customers with their new UI's, and that if people have to change user interfaces, why not change OS's (OpenOffice.org spends a lot of effort emulating Microsoft Office's UI, and the default Linux desktop on a lot of distros looks awfully similar to Windows (on a surface level, at least). Here's a quote from the article:

When the time comes that Windows XP can no longer be pre-installed on new computers, Macs and Linux will both benefit, of course. How much? I can't wait to see. If someone has to learn a new operating system, they may as well do it on a system that's immune to most malicious software. I hear that the tech support from Apple is terrific, certainly the price on Linux can't be beat. And they can both run Open Office.

As techies, Microsoft builds software for techies. It's only natural. But, they may become irrelevant as normal people look elsewhere.