It'd be really interesting to know the proportion of Linux users who are now running under a VM for their desktop Linux use.
I have Linux on the three machines I use. But on each it's via a VM. I run Windows and MacOS on the machines. Where I work this is common as well. It's surely pretty prevalent. The other way a lot of people work on Linux where I work is on a VM on AWS.
I keep hearing this, and I don't understand it. Windows is just so... messy. At my last job I kept a Windows VM for Skype (S4B) and the odd non-portable app, but I wouldn't want that on bare metal.
I don't have experience with Darwin; maybe the experience is better there.
Whenever I try to use linux on hardware, either audio doesn't work without stuttering, video doesn't work without tearing or some package manager dependency issue rears its ugly head. From my perspective, it seems inconceivable to run linux on (personal) hardware.
That being said, I am very unhappy with windows 10 at work, and would much rather have some older windows version. At some point windows probably will become shitty enough that linux might seem like a viable alternative.
One thing that probably taints my perspective: the majority of machines that I have used, at home and work, have been thinkpads and business-class Dells, so I've always enjoyed excellent hardware support. Without that, I'd understand the balance being different.
You sort of answered about understanding the question with your comment about Skype.
Lots of work places are Windows / Office effectively only. Many places have a SOE that is windows only. At home I play games sometimes. Again, that drives Windows.
Also drivers, power issues and various other issues still crop up on Linux more than Windows or MacOS.
Also, working on a VM is nice in a way because it means if it gets stuffed up, just start again quickly.
I'm typing this from an Arch instance running in VMWare Fusion on a macOS host. It's a bit annoying though -- the trackpad is emulated as a scroll wheel, making everything janky, and I can't use my host's full 32gb of RAM...
I almost never do anything but run VMWare on the host -- the only reason I haven't given back my MBP and asked work to buy me a Linux machine is because I'm waiting for the 32gb Dell XPS 13 to come out, supposedly sometime this month.
I have Linux on the three machines I use. But on each it's via a VM. I run Windows and MacOS on the machines. Where I work this is common as well. It's surely pretty prevalent. The other way a lot of people work on Linux where I work is on a VM on AWS.