In the case of alt+tab window switching I suspect it’s only faster if you are going to the last used window. If you’re hunting for an app through multiple alt tabs, you’re almost certainly going to take more time than using the mouse gestures to switch.
Not the way I lay out my windows. Most of the time every window is partially visible, and so I switch by clicking on the one of interest. Or I overlay them and scroll the partially obscured one without focusing on it. The only time I actually switch with mission control is when I'm searching for a particular desktop and window, or am reorganizing windows. In those cases mission control is far superior.
Completely disagree. Doing three finger swipe x times is just as fast if not faster than keyboard shortcuts that require you hunt down the window you're looking for.
It's objectively slower when you need to leave the keyboard with one hand to reach your touchpad. I'm thinking about a desktop environment here where 1. you might not even have a touchpad and 2. you have your both hands on the keyboard.
I mean maybe if you're using vim all the time, but most of my apps require mouse interface, so my hand is usually near the trackpad. Even when I'm using external monitors I still use the laptop keyboard and trackpad.
The whole virtual desktop can get quite clunky fast when you have multiple windows opened or ephemeral programs that you temporarily need.