Why would they? The current stable kernel release is still v6.19

Yes, unfortunately you have to clean install (they have a guide for it). It’s fine for me since it’s based on Debian, which has a very long support cycle spanning two or more years generally.

No, I chose systemd for the familiarity.

I tried COSMIC on PopOS and had the same sour experience that LTT famously did in his recent video. And honestly, considering that it is visually and functionally no different than GNOME (which is already on wayland and much more stable), I don’t know why they’re even bothering with it.

addy.io is the one I’m using

Why not just switch to systemd-boot?

Using XLibre is an option, as is using anything in the Linux world.

inb4 everybody except the people who have actually been daily-driving linux for 10+ years have an answer

fwiw I use Mint

I don’t think they make much of a difference beyond what distro-native power modes (“Power Saver”, “Balanced”, “Performance”) do. In the end the main determiners are the kernel and the hardware itself.