Killer Apps
Bengt does note that users care more about apps than operating system. Your mention of DOS reminded me that personal computers didn't really begin racking up corporate sales until Lotus 1-2-3 came out. (Anybody remember Lotus Symphony, one of the original suites?) The internet got a lot of academic and research use but didn't hit the public consciousness until the Mosaic and the graphical World Wide Web. Apple's market share is small but reasonably secure because they've become the standard for graphical development. Computing technologies increase in popularity much more rapidly when they offer a new killer app, not just equivilants to existing offerings.
