No new sound APIs are on the horizon, and no overhaul of the kernel to improve performance is in planning. At a deeper level, Linux is an operating system for programmers. Not only because it is difficult to use, but many of the paradigms focus on ease of coding, and compatibility with the Unix way, rather than performance and ease of use. Getting access to hardware required the program to go through layer after layer of abstraction, which effectively kills performance. Programs dump core files all over the place when they crash, taking up disk space if you aren't careful.
Error messages are less helpful than windows, installation help is very technically oriented, etc.
Despite all of this though, the media has caught on to Linux and refuses to let go, or look at its problems. This media success has made some in the Linux community refuse to see the faults of their OS and try to remedy them. In addition the media's attention to much better home operating systems such as BeOS is diminished, keeping a very deserving OS away from the coverage that would let it grow. I fear that if Linux does penetrate the market in its present state, then people will see it does not suit them, the media will dump it and become skeptical of future OSes and the market for an alternative OS may become closed. Rayiner Hashem is a technology school student who is heavily interested in computers and has been using Linux since 1996.