Even "utility" isn't necessarily identical with "popularity". I suspect, in many cases, by "X is better than Y", people mean enthymematically "X would be better

Even "utility" isn't necessarily identical with "popularity". I suspect, in many cases, by "X is better than Y", people mean enthymematically "X would be better than Y if we were to start using X instead of Y, even taking transition costs into account"; it would be the death of progress to dismiss out of hand every argument of this kind.