Alternative to VB.net ?

[Niya]

(2.) it opens a new desktop OS opportunity for some competitor, something Linux never managed because it had no traction in getting mass market mindshare.......
The Android-x86 project is at a state now where it works very well as a desktop OS on a system with no touchscreen.

I think you're greatly underestimating Windows. Its a very big shoe for a competitor to fill. Windows 8 may have failed but you're forgetting that there is still Windows 7 and XP which I would consider two of the best desktop OSes around.

Part of the allure of Windows is how easy it is to configure and how user friendly it is. Linux for example has been said a few times to be developer centric. You have to get low and dirty to diagnose problems and configure it. Its not point and click/plug and play like Windows. Even me as a person with some background in the low and dirty wants nothing to do with any OS that requires this, not when there is something like Windows that automates all these things.

All I have to do to install a driver on Windows 7 these is to turn on the PC. As far as I understand, in Linux, you have to use all kinds of bizarre console commands and God forbid one of them gives you some kind of cryptic error message for getting something wrong. Then there is getting drivers for Linux, another headache. Windows is just way ahead in ease of use.

I don't know anything of Android but it is based on Linux so I'd expect the same wires and pliers ethic. What you're saying has merit no doubt, but I'm not holding my breath.