Windows virtual machines are much slower than bare hardware, especially for things GP mentioned like games. I have also found Linux lags behind in many areas that matter to me in functionality, performance (even compared to Windows 11) and general ease of use. Lots of people Linux or Chrome OS is sufficient for them, and that's great, but it's not enough for everybody.

In response to your initial question, I believe everything must be criticized, especially things we like. Internal criticism, such as criticism of Windows, is just as important as external competitors, such as Linux.

To turn your first question around - if you care that much about games, why not just run Windows and remove the parts you don't like?

The VM won't have access to the GPU in a meaningful way unless you have multiple GPUs and can dedicate one to the VM.

Because a VM will still be running the AI components?