The consumer market is trained to demand something brand new and flashy.
See also the 'disappointment' to Apple's recent announcement. The
Windows market demands new features and therefore new code and therefore
the accompanying new security holes/risks.
Linux on the other hand follows a largely iterative process to software
development.
The running joke with my kids every weekly update from Debian (mostly
Etch) involves my announcing that I have made massive changes to their
system. They respond, "And we won't notice any difference." True, they
won't. That's a good thing.
My daughter's machine is the oldest in the house, and has gone through
the most changes. If she went from the Linux she had when it was first
installed (almost 4 years ago) directly to today's, she would notice
right away.
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Hawaiian Astronomical Society: http://www.hawastsoc.org
HAS Deepsky Atlas: http://www.hawastsoc.org/deepsky
