This issue of Windows update and other lock in trends is 80% of the reason I just (in the last month) switched to a Linux desktop. The other 20% is that the ui on Linux has finally progressed enough that I could consider it the least worst option. That is a first since I tried many times and wound up reverting to Windows.

So far the only thing that really bugs me is that I have to apply fixes in the terminal. Like installing a printer only to find the scanner function was installed but wasn't configured - and the only way to get it to work is read a few forums until you can figure out which of the myriad installed utilities will actually return the info you need to configure the driver, etc. It's often a few, because the first half dozen results are wrong!

Strangely enough, I don't find anything in Linux to rival Notepad++, WinSCP, or AutoHotKey - just the type of thing I was expecting to find new and improved. Those programs just have a better UI, and great functionality, to get things done without going full command line commando or buying into a the resource bloat of full ide. Right now I am using both sublimetext and visual studio code, because they both have things the other lacks. I could just use np++ for everything before. Doubling my ram made that less painful than it would have been otherwise. Obviously a very personal itch, but one I suspect a number of people who are on the cusp of accepting a Linux desktop might have.

But I trust Linux's stability since I have had zero issues in decades of administering my servers, and don't worry about updates the way I do on a less informative OS. Specifically, once you are used to apt, the list of packages that will be installed tells you a lot about what might break or not on your system. And there will always be a way to revert to older libs if necessary, which might not be true on a locked OS.