Modern programs

FreeBSD -- both the programs that make it up and the ports of software that run on it -- are updated often. It's simply a matter of getting the latest software from the net and running it. Many operating systems are updated infrequently for a variety of reasons: Debian Stable has to be tested on 11 architectures and have bugs squashed before a new version is released, and this often takes so long that the software that is released with it is already out of date; Microsoft's Windows OSes are updated whenever MS wants to update it, and you'll have to pay for newer versions of the OS (although patches and service packs are included).