It's more than a speed increase. There's memory usage benefits -- because it's not a VM, you don't need to dedicate a fixed amount of memory, regardless of what you're doing. The media situation on Linux is much worse -- the audio stack resembles a jenga tower, the media apis are worse, the media drivers are worse. Windows tends to have better backward compatibility for older but still useful programs.
Furthermore, most of the useful parts of nix tend to come from places other than gnu-based APIs. Languages like python, for example, are nicer under nix, but use few if any gnu-isms. Web frameworks and applications by extensions are more *nix friendly, but it's a rare example that restricts itself to Linux only. Sticking with just gnu and/or linux ends up being much more of a burden than it's worth.
Furthermore, most of the useful parts of nix tend to come from places other than gnu-based APIs. Languages like python, for example, are nicer under nix, but use few if any gnu-isms. Web frameworks and applications by extensions are more *nix friendly, but it's a rare example that restricts itself to Linux only. Sticking with just gnu and/or linux ends up being much more of a burden than it's worth.