There are sure a lot of improvements to be had, but I would literally go crazy if somebody took away my Linux distros and forced me to use literally anything else. Every other option on the market forces a completely different way of computing that is just ugly, inefficient, non-free and generally shit.
I get it that it takes some knowledge and tinkering and therefore is not for everyone, but now I would get crazy as well, if somebody takes them off.
Video and 3D got some good software now, but it remains that for me, Linux should push for graphics development far more.
There are some CLI hacks you can do to try to fix this but my time is precious and I can't afford to play sysadmin at home.
Meanwhile all HW acceleration use cases have worked flawlessly out of the box on windows every single time, which is why I can't recommend people switch to Linux.
What will they think when they try to watch YouTube or Netflix and the laptop fans ramp up and the battery drains instantly because HW video decode in browser doesn't work out of the box?
I have to say that I hate statements like this that manage to project a reversal of responsibilities onto the linux ecosystem. The "lack" is with the vendors of the applications you use, not with linux.
No you don't need a minimize or maximize button, they are actually useless in the GNOME work-flow, and unnecessary on windows too.
i also make use of multiple workspaces/desktops to arrange windows that are related to each other.
so i use the maximize function but never feel the need to minimize windows unless it's a window that i don't need to reopen ever.