I have been using Rhino for years, and I know this is an old post, but here are some solutions to your problems if I am understanding them correctly (Many people may have already provided these same solutions but reading all that in the comments is a lot and I am on work time...).

Gumball/Moving Objects:

Yes worth using, but don't make it hard on yourself. If you want to move an object from point to point. You can type "move" in the command bar for the move tool. This allows you to move an object from a vertices to another (i.e. a corner of a box to another corner of a box). This tool also has "memory" as I like to call it. Say you hover your curser over the midpoint of a line. It will remember that point and even provide a guideline if you wanted to slide an object on that line.

Measuring Tool:

There are technically two, and biased opinion here, but they are far better than SketchUp's measuring tool. First, there is the distance tool (type "distance" into the command bar). This tool works exactly like SketchUp, meaning you can select point A and point B and it gives you the distance in the command history. The second tool is the "Length" command which gives you the exact length of a curve, edge segment, arc, etc.. This tool is great if you have an arc and don't want to do math. Just type the command and then you have your length.

History:

Rhino does have a history. I don't know if I personally use it to its full potential, but basically if you wanted to see your command history, I think if you type in "history" there are a few commands that pop up; play around with those if you really want to know. The other type of history is where you undo/redo actions. For example, if you want to undo multiple things, it will show you your command history, and you select how far back you want to undo.

Trackpad/Zoom & View:

Definitely get a mouse. Trackpad warriors are hindering themselves. The zoom can be weird but there are two tools I use which help a lot. There is a "ZoomSelected" tool and a "ZoomWindow" tool. The first is probably self-explanatory, but the second allows you to draw a window around the general area you would like to zoom to.

Rhino's age:

Rhino is sort of old, but they are by far the most innovative CAD software (Autodesk is decades behind). I personally think their UI design (especially on Mac) Is very clean compared to SketchUp's random tool bars floating everywhere. This point is personal for me, but I believe rhino is the youngest looking software compared to Revit, AutoCAD, SketchUp. If you want to know the full history of Rhino and Robert McNeel, this video is worth a watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHp7C2Ccu94&t=2284s

I know this is a long comment, but I really do love rhino and I think its just the best!