To be fair, I would see why. Arch isn't that hard to install anymore so some people see Arch-based distros that are just Arch with GUI installer as useless. I use EndeavourOS just because GUI installer is more convinient to me.
I use dmenu for global search and Nitrogen for wallpaper. In some WM you don't need additional programs for those two things so I recommend you to first check that for WM you use.
For general tips I recommend looking at configs of other people.
If you have PC that can run virtual machines I recommend starting there so you can see how Linux works. Use it for a longer period of time and try doing some stuff there that you would normally do on Windows.
It's sad that people think they wouldn't be able to use their laptops. As far as I know nothing in that video is confirmed but it's still sad that people think their old hardware that works should be replaced just because they can't run new Windows version.
Today I watched a video about some information on Windows 12 hardware support. Video concluded with basically saying that if you own a laptop you will be forced to throw it away and buy another one. It's sad because it isn't true.
This reminds me of my first time installing Linux. I tried to install most recent version of Ubuntu at the time but for some reason it couldn't install and it wiped out Windows partition. Fortunetely, I was able to install LTS version in first try.
I'm glad you are enjoying Linux. Welcome to the penguin land.
After using Arch based distros for more than a year when I use any Debian/Ubuntu based distro it really feels like they aren't for me, at least when it comes to daily driving. I still have a laptop with PopOS that I use for school, stable distro is a better option in my oppinion for that usecase because I use it twice a week (unless it's summer or winter in which case I don't use it at all).
To be fair, I would see why. Arch isn't that hard to install anymore so some people see Arch-based distros that are just Arch with GUI installer as useless. I use EndeavourOS just because GUI installer is more convinient to me.