"Losing?" For Linux, there's really no concept of losing. The only way for Linux to "lose" is if, by some "miracle," all developers stop contributing to it. Maybe Linus goes the way of Reiser, gets thrown in jail and all interest built upon Linux goes by the wayside in shame for Linus's bad deeds. I don't see that happening, though.

Linux does have a few things going against it in terms of applications and stuff that may bring it closer to the forefront of people's minds. Of course, these disadvantages comes from probably the biggest advantage Linux has: it's free and open. But when developers only

1. Applications are typically only a "developers toy" for the most part, unless it gains particular popularity. I mention this because many developers don't have a clue on how to create a usable and pleasing UI. I'm one of those developers. Oh, and Documentation
2. Little support from commercial vendors in terms of drivers, games, etc. This has little to do with Linux itself and everything to do with the fact it's not windows.
3. WINE has been a blessing and a curse. I remember reading even fairly recently of companies saying "we support our game in linux via wine." It may be awesome for companies who haven't ported x game from windows, but it also gives people an excuse not to make a native port
4. Duplication of effort. Think of how many Window managers there are, how many desktop environments (and how big of an undertaking DEs are), how many media players there are, how many file managers, how many shells there are, how many terminal emulators for X there are.. the list goes on.
5. Some applications could take a hint from Apple about their "just working" philosophy. While I do enjoy the customizability Linux and everything associated with it gives me.. 15 windows worth of options for an instant messenger is kinda silly.

I still honestly believe that what keeps Linux below many people's radar is the fact that it's not Windows. While installing Linux has gotten laughably easy (Wubi is sex), when people can't even install software without having a slight mental breakdown, how do you expect them to potentially repartition their hard drive and installing an operating system without any help? Yeah, it's not happening.

Why should we really care about Linux becoming the de-facto OS/kernel for everyone though? It's like me being an atheist and caring that the majority of the world are silly christians. But really, you say things "aren't moving quickly" enough on the linux front.. what do you mean? It's made leaps and bounds in the last few years from the desktop usability standpoint. In all areas, really.

And as far as Visual Studio goes, I wouldn't be surprised if most developers are happy with simple syntax highlighting text editors such as SciTE and Kate. ;p

A restocking fee is exactly what should sound like it's for.

It's not compensation for keeping the movie late. If that were the case, it would make a lot more sense if we just forgot about the confusing "sell and refund" system we have now and continued on with our "Extended Viewing Fees" system.

A movie rental (DVD) is $3.99 plus tax. A Game rental can range anywhere from $4.99 to $6.99 plus tax. BBI is losing anywhere from $2 to $5 on each rental period a customer keeps a rental out. If a customer keeps a two day rental out for three weeks, long enough for it to auto-sell but short enough for the refund to take place.. we have already lost out on 10 potential rental cycles which is over $40.00 lost on ONE rental item.

A restocking fee actually represents more than simply the manpower it takes to put a movie back on the shelf as well.

Firstly, there's cost incurred by transferring a rental product as PRP. This is done to make inventory correct -- it's technically no longer available for rent, so temporarily transferring it as a Previously Rented Product and then selling that PRP game or movie to the account is the only real way to sell a movie or game to an account whilst keeping inventory accurate.

Secondly, when the movie is returned, it price of the movie or game is refunded to the account, and then the movie or game is transferred from PRP back to rental.

I guess this makes little sense to most people, but there is cost incurred from the transferring process. No, it's not about manpower. I guess it has to do with the store's shrink. More shrink = bad.

Another part of the restocking fee is the fact that various methods are used in order to get into contact with a customer to make them aware that they still have rentals out and that they are late. Think about it .. it costs what? 37 cents to mail something out via USPS. A customer should receive (or, atleast we send them out) two automated phone calls and two post-card notices in the mail before their rentals are auto-sold to their account. Just taking the postage in consideration, THAT is over half of the cost incurred by making sure the customer is properly informed that that have late rentals on their account.

Or, atleast, that's what we were told in our meeting