Despite the slow enshittification of the Windows GUI, I still prefer it to the mess Linux has on the GUI front. Linux is great for CLI and headless. Hence I combine both.
I don't think I could use Linux if it weren't for Linux Mint/Cinnamon specifically, as I haven't had good experiences with other desktop enviroments. It has one or two quirks, but at this point it's far less quirks than a fresh Windows install and the list of config options I had to change/the .reg file I started accumulating
Usability conventions between GUI applications. Keyboardability. GUI automation à la AutoHotKey. Font rendering. X vs. Wayland.
Honestly, no more or less problems than Windows. But I've found it so much easier to debug by having readily available logs and man pages. I think this might just be my use cases though.
On any Linux DE, you have native configurable key shortcuts (binding commands to keystrokes).
On KDE, Win+right-click for resizing a window from anywhere in the window (no need to click the edges) is awesome. Win+left-click for moving a window from anywhere in the window (no need to click the title bar) is awesome. Ctrl+Alt+Esc to turn your cursor into a little skull and crossbones and instantly kill whatever program you click the window of is awesome. Dolphin is amazing compared to Explorer (tabs, split views, rich file metadata displayed right below filenames).
Alt+tab to summon krunner, a tiny temporary window in the middle of the screen. Type the name of an app, Enter, and it launches. Type a math equation, and it evaluates it. Type "define" and a word, and it pulls a dictionary definition.
Clipboard history in the tray (works with pictures!). Related, Flameshot, which puts Window's Snippet Tool to shame. Like on Windows, Win+. for the emoji picker, but with more modern emojis than Windows currently supports. Customizable emoji fonts, too, unlike on Windows (Twemoji, the one Discord uses, is the best).
Gwenview is better than Window's Photos, and Okular is better than Adobe Reader.
Windows UX has nothing on KDE's UX, and I never wanna go back to an OS that can't translate billions of dollars to features I can get for free because it treats me as a dataminable cost center.
I see choice. My choice may not be the same as yours. Most major desktop projects allows you to have a clean and powerful desktop whose ergonomy is superior to those provided by current proprietary OSes.
Cortana interrupting
Ads for Games on the start menu
Rage Bait news in the start menu.
Insistence on using Edge
---
No you can't uninstall these and make the problem go away. It requires linux tier skills to figure out how to uninstall edge. But worse than linux tier, you must keep disabling things in the registry since the updates reenable.
Every now and then I look at someone using a Windows computer, and I am flummoxed how people put up with the slow, sloppy and ad-ridden Start menu experience. You can't even type "shut down" to get the shut down option, instead it offers to search the App Store. In addition to the Store, there are Weather widgets, a MS account, and Cortana shoved up your throat, Alt+Tab cycling through Edge tabs, when you have Ctrl+Tab... ugh.
I use dmenu, and all my apps are searchable and launchable instantly; no bullshit spinning circles while it phones home halfway across the globe.
Can't say I've had any problems.
I like having the super key bound to a single quick animation that: 1. Let's me see all my windows in context 2. allows me to quickly access files and applications via the keyboard by typing their name
Like, it's barebones, but I can keep it very uncluttered. At first I was bothered by the lack of desktop icons, but came to really like it. It works super well for switching between local work and remote environments (via remmina). Over the years I've run Mate, Cinnamon, KDE, and Unity among others, and I really fail to understand the Gnome hate.
Microsoft’s cloudification strategy may become another factor.