But… you’re basically arguing for more exclusivity by effectively boycotting the majority of products that choose to release on the Epic store, as most of them will include EOS functionality. Why is steamworks fine?
I’m a valve fanboy but they’re only company that’s even got a prayer of monopolizing the PC games market. Epic is if anything an anti-monopolistic force here – the Unreal Engine is the Epic product that’s threatening market dominance.
Based on this post I’m gonna say take it slow with a dual boot or live installation, if at all. You mention a lot of IMO fairly minor and subjective look and feel type criteria that indicate that you’ll be quite bothered by minor changes. Using Linux is going to involve major changes. If you’re not willing to leave your comfort zone and relearn a few things, might as well stay on Windows.