i don't like tiling wm, and can't stand seemingly random placement a linux d.e. usually gives (if not just centering everything every time).

i use the kwin script for 'remember window positions' to get behaviour similar to windows. gnome has something similar, too ('smart auto move ng'). so now a window for a program will open right back up the same size and in the same spot next time you run it.

plasma mobile works on more than just handhelds, and you'll find it in fedora and debian repos (among others, i'm sure).

literal pump and dump in the making.

pump the upcoming ipo, dump before bottom falls out.

you can add it, and switch at login. there's a cinnamon spin of ubuntu, so packages are in the repos. you'll also find meta packages assembled by both ubuntu and debian that will install what their respective 'full desktop experience' has (browser, libreoffice, utilities, and what-not).

i just switched back to debian for personal desktops after years of mint (and a few others). i'm using intel cards right now.. drivers are a total non-issue.. so that helps some, not having to deal with nvidia drivers. games are running great on stable kernel and drivers (heroic flatpak for launcher and wine).

you can have your 'start button' in the bottom left if you want, and still have the panel going up the left edge instead of along the bottom.

the panel on the side. it just makes sense--if you can get 'used to' it.

screens are wider than they are tall, but most content viewed by or worked on by most people goes vertical: web sites and text documents. hell, even most pictures and video people take these days, too, because they still don't know enough to rotate their damn phones.

i almost went cinnamon when i set up my trixie here last month, but went plasma because of some kwin addons. i did install its nemo, though, for when i need a file manager that doesn't choke on thumbnails (like dolphin does) when an extension doesn't match what the file actually is (like a lot of images served by web sites and saved by a browser these days)

you should use firefox and turn off the 'ai' crap (one toggle) if you don't want it. a few more clicks turns off the 'sponsored' stuff and 'telemetry'. if that's too much for you, then librewolf. zen, perhaps, if you want something a lil' different.

a couple minutes to click through vivaldi's settings will turn off all the annoying stuff (similar to firefox, but firefox is quicker to 'set up'). i've never seen it re-enable things like microsoft loves to do.

vivaldi is what i use for a chromium-based browser when i need to check web client 'compatibility'; and i like that you can customize the toolbar (like you can in firefox).. i move the back-forward stuff to the right side of the address box, and add the separate search box (so suggestions can be enabled in it but off for searches in address bar).