The influential power of Microsoft, who can affect governments, makes the things hard for the industry, and a lot more from the market.
It is normal than makers from completely independent fields, constructs their products regarding the Windows environment, and (a lower base) for the Apple/Mac. For instance, if you have the fine i-Phone or i-Pod, (curiously enough), you need a Windows XP/Vista structure, or a Mac-Tiger/Leopard to work with it. If you have a Digital professional camera, then it is hard to find which application might get the raw pictures out of the body. It never minds if you use Card-readers; as long as you work with Raw, they are proprietary format, and you only have the software such vendor provides. Of course, Linux developers can't afford that, as they have no information available for free.