> macOS can use different backgrounds for different monitors, GNOME can't
That'd be the least of my problems. Also, on xfce you can set different backgrounds for different monitors.
Whatever you don't like you can just change. You can change to a different DE, change WM/themes/icons/dotfiles whatever you want, you can change. You are not constrained by a perscribed UX philosophy.
To me personally that is very liberating.
I like Macs, though my personal machine is currently the latest Fedora Beta running on a ThinkPad. It's too early to tell if there are issues, but first impressions are looking good.
Over the years I have discovered that — especially with laptops — some machines work better than others with Linux.
For instance, some Dell machines and nearly all ThinkPads work pretty well with Linux without any of the usual issues (sleep/suspend/bluetooth/wifi problems). However, that's not the case with all manufacturers. For an anecdotal example, I had to resort to witchcraft to get Debian to run on my non-technical friend's ASUS laptop.
> sometimes the "fix" requires a level of technical knowledge that ordinary users don't have
True statement.