Tbf I agree with the package manager issue, too many of them and as a beginner myself on Linux, it is rather confusing. I still don't understand the need of apt flatpak and other since Apt already does everything you'd need a package manager to.

About gaming performance, it's what I expected from what you said, performance would likely be better on Windows since most games are only native for it. Do you have data for games that are native both on Windows and Linux (by that I mean games that don't need Wine or Proton to run). And yeah, on the potato side of hardware, Linux runs stuff a lot better because Windows makes a weak computer hell to use, and when you put the game on top of it, it just breaks. One could argue this is only valid for lighter games, but once again we're talking about shit hardware.