My problem is, I need Unix in order to get shit done. I need Emacs and I need a package manager that can install the missing parts of Unix I now rely on, like pv and entr. I just don't think I can live without that stuff and I'm terrified of trying to make Windows work for me. I know Microsoft announced their "Linux" support or Ubuntu for Windows or whatever—how does it compare to macOS and Linux?

At the same time, I fear how finicky Linux is on modern laptops. I especially hate touchpad-related sensitivity issues. I tried running Linux on my MBP and wasted days trying to get the touchpad sensitivity settings to something remotely close to the MBP and couldn't figure it out. I imagine the situation is probably worse on platforms like the Surface because I expect Linux driver authors are doing more work on inexpensive commodity laptops. Is that true or do you think Surface Book will have decent Linux support?

I don't like feeling like a prisoner of a platform that's drifting into stupidity. If I had a lot of spare income I could splurge on a couple of possibilities and see what works but I just don't have that much spare capital.