Linux is an operating system with a major handicap in its design, an indisputable affinity for the last place... The open source platform is perpetually in the shadow of rival products such as Windows and Mac OS X. The traditional bronze winner in a three horse race, Linux is far from the levels achieved by Windows Vista and Mac OS X Tiger. But this time, the open source operating system managed to come in dead last with no contest from either Vista or Tiger.

In the IndyCar Series, 91st Indianapolis 500-Mile Race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 27, 2007 the Linux sponsored car delivered the absolute worse performance out of a total of 33 competitors. Driver Roberto Moreno came in the 33rd position after 36 laps and following an accident, reported fake Steve Jobs. And no, neither Microsoft nor Apple were in the race. There were no Windows Vista or Tiger cars to run Linux out of the road. Linux in fact managed to come in last while competing only with itself...

Right... That was uncalled for, but the truth is that Linux is struggling at approximately 0.7% of the operating system market for the past two months after it dropped from a high 0.8% in April 2007. The data was provided by Market Share by Net Applications and includes all the various distributions of Linux. By comparison, Windows Vista exploded to 0.93% of the market in February 2007. In this manner Vista surpassed the installed base of Linux in its first month of availability.

At Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) 2007 in Los Angeles on May 15, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates noted with satisfaction that the adoption rate of Windows Vista had advanced the operating system ahead of Linux and Tiger after just 100 days on the shelves. Vista now accounts for a share of 4.52% of the operating system market.