I quite like how HaikuOS (and maybe BeOS before it, I can't claim familiarity there) handles this. There's one positionable window with a launcher and a barebones customizable set of control widgets. Everything else from system monitors to workspace switching are just normal application windows that you place in a convenient spot and pin so they show up on all workspaces. That combined with the powerful way they handle window management, allowing for creating custom tiled window sets and treating every window as tabbable, highlight just how samey and limiting most desktop environments are. I daily drive sway, which works completely differently, but Haiku's solution is so interesting that I find myself enjoying it despite the mismatch with my usual habits.

Really though, Windows, Gnome, Plasma, MacOS, they're all basically the same and all feel so cumbersome and limiting. Desktop metaphors have been stalled for so long, and when Apple took a shot at something new with Stage Manager they managed to downgrade the experience even further. I'm so disappointed by the state of things.