Why hasn't open source software taken off?

Advertising is a problem but the major problem with open source operating Systems anyway is that computer and laptop manufactures usually only offer a windows OS on there systems (Dell are the only ones I know that offer ubuntu pre-installed) so a lot of people don't even know that there are other operating systems out there besides Mac and Windows. I have also heard of Microsoft donating computers to primary schools and early learning centres which means that children get used to using windows from a young and then find it difficult to make the switch to a linux operating system.

As for open source applications like GIMP, Open Office an 7-Zip the problem lays with advertising not enough people are aware that there are applications that do what they need without the price tag. Take Open Office or Google Docs or even Microsoft's selection of Web Apps which include Word, PowerPoint, Excel and OneNote which are the most commonly used application included in desktop version of office which if you ask me is ridiculously over priced(Unless you have a student discount)people just dont know that these are available to them.

Companies are greedy for money!

because open source is not there yet... there are a lot of professional programmers working on these projects, but there are a ton who dont know what they are doing. open source software tends to be a little buggy and often do not have the same features as paid for software does. its also hard to trust something for reliability and security if 1000s of people are doing it for free... that is the large issues with open source and why it has not taken off yet.

A few open source programs are quiet handy and may not be widely used for the reason of many not even knowing about it, I use Gimp, some players, recorders etc.. no one really wants to pay for every little bot of software they use so finding a free program is the best option.

When you get into operating system it could be because people like to be able to do things, thus the reason I stick with Windows, Linux is far too limited and once it can do everything Windows can do we will see more people using that.