> I got tired of having to fiddle with the system

Never understood this argument... I use both Linux and OSX, I spend the very same amount of time to get from a fresh install to a friendly dev environment. Install bunch of extra stuff (either with brew on OSX or with dnf on Linux), import my config files (git clone my-dotfiles-repo), done.

The only extra quirk on Linux is that I have to use a network cable until broadcom wifi drivers are installed.

The rest is a matter of personal tastes... I believe GNOME provides an optimal user experience and I like it way more than OSX, but both stay out of my way enough to not care that much.