> This continues for many years, so it's likely a design principle.

I read that Apple follows a document model, where the application is kinda a background thing a window is supposed to be for a specific task. Not like Windows where the main windows is the hub of interaction. So you use CMD + <backquote> to switch between these tasks and CMD + TAB for switching between applications. The menu bar is part of the application, but windows can modify it to suit the focused tasks.

I've used Rectangle for quick window management, but in time I've come to understand the philosophy so it does not bother me as much. It's more leaned into the desktop analogy than other OS.

Yes, and this is the reason why there is a shared menu bar and why many early macos apps had a number of floating windows, like Photoshop.

The desktop represents the active app, and a window is the active document in that app.

This doesn't make all that much sense with today's screen sizes and multiplatform apps.

It depends entirely on what you’re used to.

My earliest exposure to computers was a Mac (though Windows, Linux, and BeOS also came into the picture fairly early on) and I don’t find the Mac model the least bit problematic. On the contrary, I find the Win9X model overly simplistic and unmanageable past a small handful of windows.

You can also use AltTab if you prefer windows tab styles.

https://alt-tab-macos.netlify.app/

I agree with your misgivings about window management in MacOS. The way Windows does it is so much more intuitive.

For window snapping, there are countless apps that will easy solve your problem. But I get why you would struggle - I still get frustrated at times with the way MacOS works.

> no way to align or snap windows

Just download Rectangle for free. I recently switched from Dell XPS to M3 Pro and that was my gripe to. One install and it's much better, moving windows with ctrl+opt+arrows is also close to Windows and makes it fairly usable.