Also, if you really haven't updated in three years, that means that you're still running kernel 3.16, which has 81 known vulnerabilities[0], 12 of which are critical. That's the kind of stuff I don't really want to worry about anymore.
[0] https://www.cvedetails.com/vulnerability-list/vendor_id-33/p...
So now? Linux and *bsd for paid work. Windows for the desktop. cygwin and mobaxterm ftw. All old is new again.
What operating system allows you to "not worry about" OS security updates, and how is it different from Linux?
In my experience, on Linux such installations are smooth for about a year and a half, and then start failing for cryptic reasons, even if you've done everything possible to pick a mainstream distro, ideal hardware, and keep the machine as vanilla as possible.
(And I say this as someone who's been using Linux since the 1990's.)
I also take care of my parents computer with ubuntu and i have done two major release upgrades and have experienced no errors.
The latest update introduced many problems, though
https://www.google.com/search?q=high+sierra+breaks&ie=utf-8&...
What you've said may have been true several years ago, but it isn't anymore.
I used to try every new app, every new service. I used to run Linux on my desktop. Doing those things was fun and challenging, but took time.
I have kids now. I value spending time with them over fiddling with the latest app or spending an hour tuning my kernel so I can run my window manager at max resolution. I use a Mac and it just does that for me now, albeit with far less customizability and fun, but that is the tradeoff I'm willing to make.
I'm not saying you're wrong, but I'm saying your sample group has an age bias. :)