I was using VM systems running on PCS from 1989 (OS/2) Linux only started in 1991 and did not take off for say 10 years, by then Windows NT existed.
So VM was necessary for Linux but was not the reason for it taking off.
In my experience Linux came in for servers replacing other Unix servers. Windows NT servers continued for some time.
As for desktop you still need Excel and to a lesser extent Word and these are still best on Windows.