Well, that's a problem for the individual user. And it happens not only with operating systems, but with any other product. The seller's main goal is to sell, and the more expensive, the better.

Could you elaborate on what other products this happens with? Unfortunately, I don't know of any field where monopoly is more obvious than in the software industry. Microsoft is essentially a global giant, an unstoppable monopoly that has the right to impose an outright failed product (Windows Vista) on the entire world. Only advanced users can refuse, but they will always be a minority... that's why they are advanced. The majority of uneducated ordinary people are struggling with Vista. Even though it glitches, freezes, and barely works, performing simple operations in an unacceptably long time. I had the opportunity to compare the performance of Windows Vista on a computer with a quad-core processor and two gigabytes of RAM with the performance of Windows 98 on the first Pentium (133 MHz). The former is somewhat behind the latter, although, no doubt, it looks more attractive.
In most civilized countries, there are ministries for antitrust policy, whose goal is to control large enterprises so that they have at least some viable competitors... This works with clothes, food, and even cars - here, the product user can determine what they need and will not just buy everything from the largest manufacturer. But with operating systems, not everyone can figure it out...

In most cases, an ordinary person whose acquaintance with a computer ends with Word/1C/Paint/Explorer simply doesn't think about it, as they don't understand the subject.

I fully agree with this opinion. I myself am not a very advanced user - I haven't gotten around to mastering Linux, and I don't know anything about programming - however, I will not allow anyone to sell me a low-quality product just because "everyone buys it."
Regarding the topic - I have assembled all my computers myself, starting with the 486. Problems with pre-installed software are not my problems, in general. But nevertheless, I consider this topic very important. My father received Vista with his new laptop... and he has been a software collector for about fifteen years (about three hundred old laser discs and a hundred DVDs - all filled with programs, of which he uses maybe fifty). He tested various software under Vista for a month - and happily removed it))) Another friend of mine, on whose computer I first saw Vista, lasted two years. Moreover, for the first year, he used the beta version of the product (you simply cannot imagine what an incredible mess it is, Explorer loads for 1.5 minutes, and it takes 10 seconds to open a folder).
One thing consoles me in this hopeless Microsoft monopoly - the power of Microsoft Office is slowly crumbling. More and more people are using alternative programs - Winamp instead of Windows Media Player, Opera and Firefox instead of Explorer, Total Commander instead of Explorer, and only a mentally impaired person would prefer Paint to Photoshop or Corel. Recently, I saw Office San - a good alternative to Microsoft products, and it's also freeware. It has its own text editor, graphics editor, and spreadsheet program for accountants. It works with all Microsoft Office extensions, but it is much faster, more accessible, and less demanding on RAM. However, operating systems will remain Microsoft's for a long time to come around the world, with rare exceptions. Alas.