I had a similar issue when I started with Hyprland to set up all the additional programs which usually come with a DE. But there are preconfigured setups which give you a “full DE” experience out of the box and you can customize from there.

I recommend SolDoesTech or My Linux for Work. Both have full guides on Youtube as well for “easy” Arch + Hyprland installs.

And sc-im for spreadsheets

I had a very similar experience when I switched to Linux around 2 years ago. Now I dread every second I have to use Windows at work.

I also use Kitty with the Fish shell and the Tide plugin. Looks quite fancy compared to the standard terminal.

Not Linux related, but I prefer AMD due to less shady business practices than Intel.

Another point could be that most Linux users get an AMD GPU and then might go for an AMD CPU as well.

CalyxOS is also available for the Fairphone and you don’t have to give money to Google.

Do you have more info on the proprietary shim? I’ve never heard of it