Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is highly skilled at being "a little cocky" as he trumpets the global desktop dominance of his company's Windows operating system.

"Ninety-five percent of the world's computers run Windows," Ballmer proudly told an audience of students at Sweden's Royal Institute of Technology on Monday. "They don't run Mac, they don't run Linux."

Microsoft is also very good at suggesting that Windows malware is an industry problem rather than one that's a direct result of its own lax security.

The fact is, there are few users in this world who choose Windows because it's irresistibly good. Rather, most use it because of inertia, pure and simple. For that inertia, however, everyone pays a price--especially organizations. Here's why Windows is undeniably bad for business.

1. It's a Monoculture