Conky widgets allow you to put some dynamic info on your desktop like hardware info, weather, RSS, etc. Also, Dash to Dock gives you a macOS like dock. Oh, and Gnome Tweaks allows you to customise your own Windows-like taskbar on the bottom, with application names and desktops.
Only problem I’ve experienced is that the fingerprint reader didn’t work on some laptops while it did on others. YMVM, just try a Live USB, I’d say.
In my opinion they’re not worth it, and you can uninstall anything you don’t like, anyway.
Rooting in Android means you’re always logged in as root (admin), often without password. This is unsafe. In Linux tasks can get rooted individually. This is safe (just don’t give a bad task like a virus root-access) In a DE, like Gnome, some pop-up window will ask for your password if a task needs root. In a terminal, just add sudo in front of a command that needs root, and enter your password if the terminal asks.
Yes, you can uninstall any pre-installed app, just right-click it on the menu, Gnome will ask for your password so it can root that one uninstall task! Or type sudo apt remove followed by that app’s internal name, like sudo apt remove firefox!
Not at all, it’s the opposite! Since updates concern the whole system, system updates always require to run as root underwater!
This depends on your login screen, but assuming Debian or Ubuntu: Install the other DE, usually you just need to sudo apt install some things. Then on the login screen, there’s a button with an icon on the top-right of where you enter your password, just click that and choose the other DE. You can now switch DE anytime you log in!