Windows really is the exception and not the rule, though. In fact in the free and open world of Linux, backwards compatibility is even worse… a binary compiled a year ago has a good chance of no longer working. Stuff like Flatpak is improving that situation a bit, but it’s still nowhere as backwards compatible as Windows.
An amazing sentiment calling the operating system used the most across the entire world an exception rather than it being a standard. And I don't know how you envoke the problem (yes problem) of broken dependencies on linux and think it adds to your argument on why this is a good move by Apple.
Windows may be the most commonly used OS, but nevertheless it is just one OS among many and the others have worse backwards compatibility… most considerably so.
Linux has excellent backwards compatibility if you bundle your dependencies the same way you do on Windows. Most low-level interfaces - the kernel, libc, X, GL - pay close attention to backwards compatibility.
