If you want the Mac to behave more like windows then yeah, you're going to need more 3rd party apps than seems sensible.
The way finder works vs explorer, for example, comes from the initial design of each.
Mac OS was developed as a document-based desktop to run on known controlled hardware. Users care about the document they want to work with rather than filing systems, directories, random menus and window decorations per application etc. This is what led to the single task/menu bar for all applications and things like finder defaulting to the most recently used documents. Typically, as many IT support staff will tell you, people remember what their document is called or contains not where they saved it.
Windows was developed as a program based desktop to run on any random IBM compatible PC, so every application can do whatever it likes, users need to remember where they saved things and what they called it, hardware support was/is someone else's problem.
Over the years those initial designs still influence the operating system, even though both with try things the other have done. I've found Windows multiple attempts to index files and make search for documents to work have been very hit and miss in comparison to Mac OS.
Similarly retina displays is apple branding for having double the pixels for the resolution to display. In the same way Apple chose postscript early in the design, retina displays are are designed to provide high quality images and text for their display hardware. At the time retina displays were far ahead of the mess of hidpi support in phones/tablets/pcs. This has become problematic for connecting PC Monitors and TVs which have consolidated on mass produced 16:9 1080p/1440p/2160p panels, rather than Apples custom resolutions used in retina displays.
I use a mix of MBP 16" from work, a 14" Thinkpad Linux laptop, a MBP 14" and Windows on my gaming machine.
Even though the 14" MBP is effectively a lower resolution than the 14" Thinkpad, it is a far more comfortable display to use and doesn't feel like a smaller desktop.
With a 4K monitor the MBP never looks quite right, while the Thinkpad does. Plug the MBP into a 5K monitor (such as the studio display) and it all makes sense again.
Maybe it's because I have used Linux with Gnome desktop on my laptop for years and they way it works suits how I use a computer, but switching to Mac OS from Windows I haven't missed any of the Windows "features". I have tried Linux KDE a few times, but find that even more messy than Windows.
Hopefully as you become more familiar with Mac OS and how it works, frustrations will reduce without needing to look for 3rd party apps which usual cost.
