I don't think you're trolling, because many of the things you mention are true, but I personally haven't met anyone who's installed a fresh copy of windows, rebooted and had everything 'just work.' There's always some litany of things to tweak and set up after an install no matter which OS you happen to favor. As for linux, if you use stuff like Ubuntu or any of the other user-friendly distros, a 'sudo apt-get (whatever)' is usually enough to fix many issues without much additional configuration. You have a point with gaming on linux, there isn't much out there, aside from whatever you can get running with wine. I gave up gaming on linux a while ago, and go for console gaming nowadays. Simpler than anything which may involve messing around with drivers.
I think the 'average user' has changed, though. Just using facebook, twitter, and all the other social networking crap has to have some positive effect as to their technological knowledge. Not to mention all the other assorted technological crap we all get exposed to. Smartphones, etc. I just think the 'average joe/jane' understands more now than they did even a couple of years ago, if my 70-year-old mother's recent questions regarding an iphone is any indication.