Down that hole
Cockpit Web GUI made finding and reading logs, restarting services and so on much easier for me as a beginner:
https://cockpit-project.org/
If you use the GNOME desktop then the ArcMenu, Dash to Panel and JustPerfection gnome extensions allow you to simulate the Windows workflow. There’s also many other extensions as better window tiling, showing status indicator at the bottom panel and so on.
https://extensions.gnome.org/
Screenshot example: https://i.imgur.com/tNiFiws.png
i think gnome works best without any plug-ins if you’re ok with getting used to the workflow; it’s an amazing experience out of the box if you have a touchpad/touchscreen device like a laptop.
I only have libindicator support installed (for apps that like to close to tray)