[_dave]

There isn't a minimizing button since the idea is that basic apps are generally meant to be ephemeral; that a task should be a quick one-and-done (or so I was told when I asked on IRC years ago). You can add the button back and even put it on the left side of the window via the GNOME Tweaks tool. If you want to hide a window, slide it into another workspace. It felt weird at first but it makes more sense as I continued to use GNOME. I call it the "control panel workspace". At least you can multitask with workspaces easier than you could on Windows.

Can't speak for mobiles. The desktop though is surprisingly more keyboard-friendly than it appears. It may have flaws, but GNOME feels like a better desktop than anything else I've tried.