I’ve had good luck with Fedora on a 2013 MacBook Air. Granted I need the nonfree repository, but it does the job.

Jim Banks is dumb on so many levels.

I started using dwm for the very reason OP asked. I wanted to remove the window decoration, have a more simplified view, and have full control over what my windows looked like. It works for exactly what I needed/wanted.

Switch to dwm. https://dwm.suckless.org/

Yes, I’m using a custom icon theme and set icons for those apps the theme didn’t have.

I’ve been happy with Pear Launcher.