The BBC News RSS feeds seem to be at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10628494 The page content seems to be old but the feed contents looks up to date.
From the Windows Community
Does Windows 11 allow Windows 95 compatible computer games? … It really depends on the game, you might get some working, some might not. It is really case by case basis unfortunately.
It appears that people may have to use virtual machines to run some Windows 95 software https://www.groovypost.com/howto/run-old-apps-on-windows-11/ The article doesn’t mention using HyperV only 3rd party software.
I prefer Linux simply but it isn’t my tribe.
Took a couple of minutes to find the information above
The official docs for Toon Boom Harmony 22 seem to have a page on how to install under Linux (RHEL or CentOS 6 or 7).
https://docs.toonboom.com/help/harmony-22/advanced/installation/basic/linux/about-basic-installation-linux.html https://docs.toonboom.com/help/harmony-22/advanced/installation/basic/linux/install-on-linux.html
You may get it working under Mint but it won’t be supported.
You may have to look at a virtual machine or just put up with Windows because you need this software.
These may help you to understand what Secure Boot is.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/design/device-experiences/oem-secure-boot
Perhaps this page in Mint documentation may help https://linuxmint-installation-guide.readthedocs.io/en/latest/burn.html#how-to-make-a-bootable-usb-stick
The following video is more advanced but covers Ventoy which lets you have a bootable disk that you can copy ISO files onto. You will then have an USB with multiple distributions that you can pick and choose between at boot time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10L8aCY3VBs
Firewall - While this tutorial is Ubuntu 16.04 it should work current versions of Ubuntu https://www.linuxbabe.com/desktop-linux/getting-started-gufw-ubuntu-16-04 It should work for other distributions once you change the package manager.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samba_(software) I just searched for the “samba computer” and this was the first link.
See if you can find some introductory videos that are suitable for you on YouVideo or elsewhere that are suitable for you to work out if you are ready to set up your first home server.
If you just need some storage you could just get a “cheap” USB storage spinning rust external hard drive and move the data that you don’t need day to day onto the drive. At a later date you get a Raspberry Pi or second hand small PC and use the PC as a server with the same drive attached.
This is what the Microsoft system requirements page for Windows 11 says
Windows 11 Pro for personal use and Windows 11 Home require internet connectivity and a Microsoft account during initial device set-up.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/windows-11-specifications
I guess you were building machines with a Windows Enterprise license. This would explain why you had the option to setup an offline account.
Steps to setup a local account on Windows 11 Home https://www.tomshardware.com/how-to/install-windows-11-without-microsoft-account
The original interview is no longer available, but here are references.
https://www.theregister.com/2013/08/24/top_10_steve_ballmer_quotes_from_microsoft_history/
“Ballmer: I may have called Linux a cancer but now I love it” https://www.zdnet.com/article/ballmer-i-may-have-called-linux-a-cancer-but-now-i-love-it/
“Former Microsoft CEO Ballmer does about-face on Linux technology” https://www.reuters.com/article/us-microsoft-ballmer-linux-idUSKCN0WC2RA/