There have been strong moves to encourage consumers and institutions like schools to step away from the Macintosh and embrace Windows exclusively. The main reason advanced to support this argument is that because the working world, the 9-5 business world, predominantly uses Windows, schools and consumers should use Windows. It has been argued that because most people will encounter Windows at work, they will be at a disadvantage should they use any other platform in school or at home. This is targetted at the Macintosh platform because the Macintosh has had high penetration in the education market, but it could also apply to other platforms, Linux for example, which has been gaining market share. However there is no evidence to support the assertion that using a modern operating system other than Windows will be a hindrance to students when they leave school and enter the world of work.
Computer skills are transferable.
There is a fallacy that learning an alternate-computing platform is somehow a hindrance to learning Windows. This assumes that computer skills, once learned, are intransitive. The truth is that once a computer user learns to use a mouse or trackpad they can use such a device on any computer that utilises one for input. The same is true for a keyboard, monitor, scanner, CD-ROM drive or any other peripheral device. Transferability goes well beyond hardware.