I'm not bothering with Windows 11. I suspect I have a few machines around here that could run it (and it would be free to upgrade), but my main work PC is too old and I like Windows 10. I don't see Windows 11 as worth it in any way, shape, or form. Windows 12 will more than likely fix everything Windows 11 breaks, so I'll wait and see. It won't be the first time I've skipped a Windows release, and it won't be the last.
As for cost, I think I've bought maybe one licence for Windows (95 iirc) over the years. All other copies I've received through MSDN subscriptions (which I did pay for*, but considering the software available for "free" more than made up for the price of the subscription), except for one Windows Vista licence which was given to me by one of the guys at Microsoft for putting up with the mountain of shit dropped on me when trying to integrate their new (and very alpha) Games Explorer system into our game.
As for what I do, my main application use of Windows since Windows 95 has been Developer/Visual Studio for developing games, applications, and websites. I've almost always had Office installed, but to be honest in the last 25 years I've probably used Word maybe 50 times and the rest of Office almost never. (Except OneNote - I quite like the quick and easy syncing of notes to my phone these days.) Paintshop Pro has been another piece of software I've used regularly throughout that time too. I played games quite a bit in the past too, but more on consoles than PCs.
Over the years I've been tempted to try and use Linux, but always failed to see the appeal. From back in the late 90s when I couldn't even get the installer to run to the end without crashing, to maybe 10-15 years ago when the available software just seemed antiquated and decidedly lacking.
A feeling that I still have today to be perfectly honest. VSCode is mostly usable but it has its quirks which irritate the shit out of me sometimes, but it's a hell of a lot better than anything else I've tried on Linux over the years. Back in some past jobs the way we developed on Linux was to develop on Windows, sync the sources over to Linux (we had an in-house tool that auto-synced any changed file), and compile and run them there. The alternative was far more painful to even consider.
You see, the thing is, I'm a software developer (architect, designer, engineer, etc), not a sysadmin. I don't want to have to waste my time configuring every last little thing for weeks on end. I just want the machine to work with minimum fuss and hassle so I can get on with my work. If I buy a new piece of hardware, I expect it to just work. Same with the OS. It's a tool. Nothing more, nothing less that either lets me work, or gets in my way. I've had to write assembler for machines without any OS in the past and while it's fun for a while I don't want to live in that world. Interaction Design is a far more interesting topic of conversation for me.