I can see the issues w/ Windows, but what's your beef with GNOME? It's the only UX I know of that actually makes a touchscreen usable for non-trivial tasks. (And many laptops feature touchscreens by now. Often with something like a fully-rotating hinge, to enable touch-only use.)
I use a keyboard and mouse at my desk. Not interested in touching the screen as it takes more effort and would need to be cleaned more often. I want easily discoverable menus, easily used scrollbars, and a dark theme. Real work has taken a backseat to play. I have an iPad/Phone for that and enjoy that at the sofa. Two use cases, not one.
