Only now?! Linux has always been faster than Windows.

This is absolutely true and applies to everything. Becoming good at anything is the result of the combination between predisposition (as in capacity) and favorable conditions for that capacity to manifest. Simple example: a gifted guitar player can only manifest their virtue if they ever have access to the instrument at the right time to spike their interest.

I’m a long time supporter of Xfce, but I have to say Cinnamon these days. It’s light on resources while being feature rich. Also it’s the default on Mint and it just works.

I’ve recently got myself an Acer Aspire 15 with AMD chip set and I am quite satisfied with the machine and how Mint just works with it.