If Windows 10 had the feature since 2015 (first W10 release) that would be at least 3 years after Gnome; Earliest mention I can find and that's worst case scenario for Gnome.
As for KDE Plasma it had those since at least 4.2.0, Plasma 4.2.0 announcment that version was released in 2009.
Manjaro still hasn't broken once for me. I probably have more AUR packages than ones from the official repos at this point, and I've used the three branches it offers.
She's mentally unwell (to say the least) and she was put in charge of taking care of the most annoying creatures on earth. Not trying to justify her actions or shift the blame somewhere else, but maybe someone should have tested her; just in case she's a fucking psycho.
Windows is always one step ahead because they experiment a lot. their experiments may flop, they may face outrage, but they are always trying new things. and when they find something good they stick with it.
Things appearing suddenly on screen is more distracting than 200ms animations. On Gnome you're supposed to click the meta key, type the first 3 letters of the app name, click enter, and the app opens. If you can do it fast enough then you won't even see the animations, if you can't then the animations aren't the problem.
MacOS window management sucks, and Gnome/Plasma are already the face of the Linux desktop.
I ALREADY "BEFRIENDED" YOUR MOM LAST NIGHT. -SANS
UNDERTALEDELTARUNE