@kauer Yes, the dock in Gnome can only be kept visible by using an extension. I actually don't miss it as I use keyboard shortcuts to open/switch apps.
For the workspace switcher I alwys set up a simple shortcut (CTRL + arrow left/right) so I don't need any mouse gestures for that. On laptops that works quite effortlessly with a three finger gesture (swiping left/right)
I used the zoom app these days without any bugs, but that was on Fedora, so not quite the same.