the problem is
Saddly I do agree with the "Windows can prevent poor, unsuspecting non-techies from "dealing with an unfamiliar environment or major compatibility issues.""
When non-techies buy a computer they think windows is the only os from what I've seen. When I worked in a school we had a teacher that bought a laptop with ubuntu installed and brought it in and wanted to know why windows software would not work on it. When we tried to explain to him Unbuntu was a different OS and he would need a windows emulator his eyes glazed over, kind of like the deer caught in headlights look, because he had no idea what a OS was and any explanation that it was not windows was lost we didn't even get to explain what a windows emulator was before he completly tuned us out. Turns out he thought Ubuntu was some kind of program that changed what the start menu in windows looks like...
So lets all remember standard users have issues with understanding directions on opening programs and changing settings in windows. I cannot begin to fathom the mental anguish that would come from trying to explain to a standard user how to install, run, and change settings in linux.