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bugs squashed before a new version is released and this often takes so long, the software released with it is already out of date. Microsoft's Windows OSs 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).