[xnorswap]

Some recommendations:

Shell: Powershell. It takes some getting used to dealing with objects rather than the "everything is a file/string" world of unix/linux but once you adjust to that, it's wonderful.

Toy programming/scripting: Linqpad. Quickly script tools in C#/.Net.

p.s. On file installation, try winget, or possibly chocolatey. Install via command line, and many of the programs support being installed without admin privileges by installing to the user profile.

Also don't be scared to ask your boss / IT department to install things for you. It's their job to provide you the tools you need.

I'd warn against trying to "hold on" to linux by trying to run everything through emulators or WSL2, it'll just add friction when you want to collaborate with colleagues.