If I may say,
(granted I could be totally wrong about all of this, but this is my .02)
The reason I personally believe the OS battle has/can become quite nasty is because people are fighting over MORE then Operating Systems.
See, SOME people talk computing very seriously, and the OS you choose is kind of like the religion you've chosen to follow. (or not)
Some people, see Linux as one of the ways they can begin to free themselves from Captilasm, by using products that are free, and (basically) made though a relaxed version of socialism.
It CAN be seen as a symbol of rebellion against the "norm", a way of giving themselves an identity.
If you go to gnomelook.com some of the groups on there are groups like the Polish Freedom Fighters etc.
Thus, Linux can be modifed to be a sort of symbol of freedom.
Where as mircosoft on the other hand, is the norm, dull. (in certain peoples eyes) and they view it as dumb.
(hence the flaming on the linux side)
Mircosoft is the standard for computing OS, (at least in desktops and laptops) but some people believe to be poorer code.
I will add that Microsoft in the past, hasn't taken very good care of some of their customers, so this may also be a source of discontent.
in regards to flam wars that have taken place over this,
A lot of young adults take pride in how fluent they are with technology. Thus their choice of OS, CAN be one of the ways they show how much they know. HENCE insulting one's OS CAN be insulting their intelligence in computing.
I pretty much all comes down to this,
Mircosoft is meant (again this is a opinion) for people who don't really want to learn how their computer works, merely to get it to do what they say.
Linux is meant to be more along the lines of having direct control over the operating system.
Anyways, thats my humble opinion, and it may be wrong or right, but its just what I think through what I've seen and studied.
(granted I could be totally wrong about all of this, but this is my .02)
