Unfortunately Linux Will NEVER gain alot of ground NEVER! the simple reason being that the programmers DO NOT undertsand a simple concept: Not everyone knows UNIX! nor are they interested in being forced to use super strange commands or the shell to accomplish something. Even their "DownLoad Wizardz" are hard as hell to use. Even on the super simple Ubuntu.
Nearly everything you need comes with a gui these days. And the commands are no more strange than the commands in cmd.exe in windows. I find the console of linux much more userfriendly than the cmd prompt in windows or dos, but no one forces you to use it.
I really wonder what your issue is with the download/package manager, as i find it easier to install ubuntu packages than installing windows software on windows. You have three choices, one is to use the graphical download manager where you basicly search for the software needed and just select it and press install. You can also install it under console/terminal with these easy to remember commands: apt-cache search firefox will gie you results related to the browser firefox. apt-get install firefox will actually install it for you and even install the depedencies needed. Is this hard? Then you have the third option of downloading the ubuntu package manually and then just clicking/double clicking it to make it install through the package manager.
You can also make it update all your packages by performing these simple commands: apt-get update and then apt-get upgrade.
In windows on the other hand you will have to first download an exe and then double click the file, which is exactly the same process as with the third option on ubuntu and also the slowest method.
Nobody is interested in the fact that Ubuntu ccannot come with MP3 and DVD codecs as standard (stupendously ridiculous). its like that stupid Gif copyright crap that was going on a few years ago.
This is because ubuntu is free. If you want linux with mp3/dvd support, then you buy one of the commerical distros like mandriva or suse. You can also simply get mp3 support by editing a couple of lines in package manager conf file"apt.source" by adding universe and multiverse which tells it to include non free stuff like mp3 codecs and such.
Linux has one problem though and that is lack of common standards between distros. A package for redhat will for example not install easily on for example ubuntu or vice versa. If there was just one distro, then it would be easier to install software on linux than on windows.
