

Windows container runtime is free as well, simply install the docker runtime from chocolatey or winget along with the Windows Containers and Hyper-V windows features. This is what we do on some build machines for CI.
Theres no reason to use desktop other than “ease of use”
The worst part is on Linux efibootmgr can set the boot entry for next boot, like it’s already in the spec to say “boot windows for 1 boot then back to my default”
They just refuse to play nice with anything else.