Wtf are you on about? There is no such thing as a 'cd rom driver update'. That's all built into the kernel. Not to mention if a patch that the distribution put into their kernel broke your system, then that is entirely the fault of that particular distribution, NOT Linux. As nicholas said, "why is that the fault of Linux?"
Same for the login screen, use proper Gnome, not that bastardized thing that Mint uses. Even if you don't like Gnome-Shell, fallback mode is pretty damned close to old gnome 2.0 and is officially supported instead of some 'omg, changes, lets fork!' side project supported by Mint.
Sounds to me like you just need to use a GOOD distribution. Preferably one that doesn't try to do all the hand-holding (I've learned that while they have decent defaults, much like Windows, if you try to do anything cool with them, they break.)
Slackware was mentioned, though oddly through all my years of using Linux, I haven't really tried Slackware, but I have always ended up going back to Debian. I've tried all the derivatives of it, and they just end up sucking because they take from Debian, but then break the packaging compatibility so lose all of the great talent that goes into a proper Debian package.
It really sounds like all of your complaints are distribution specific. Also Arch is fantastic for learning, and you can keep the same install for years!
1. Stop blaming the user. Distro's without a simple login screen are not the users fault. Its not because "its not like Windows"- its because its a brain dead login screen. And this is on THE most popular distro...
2. An issue with the cd-rom driver support did in fact break PCLOS. Yes was fixed eventually by some friggin' around with the kernel.
But the kernel is not an operating system "Wow this kernel is so much better than the Windows kernel, or the Macos kernel"- Said no user ever. The kernel is nothing without the software that runs on top of it. Thats what makes the computer useful.
The operating system is how Linux gets judged by most end users. A well designed OS is intuitive to use without needing to read a tome about it. Never needed to read an Amiga manual, a Windows manual, or Macos manual or even a Beos manual-but I need to to use Linux? And that's my fault?
3. Just need a good distro, you say? But not Mint, the most popular? Not any derivatives of Debian- that would mean no Ubuntu, second most popular. Arch you say- a bit of digging tells me it will dump me into a cli by default, and then I have to manually:
create disk partitions
establish MRB or EFI
setup network with ( or without) DHCP, including wired or wireless network
optimize gcc for the specific CPU
config(and even compile) the main Linux kernel
config, compile, and install kernel modules
do some environmental essential configuration
setup X server and GUI
…
And then all the other essentials. Luckily there is a beginners guide- 26 pages LONG.
Why would I want to waste time reading all that when Windows will do it in under 20 minutes?
4. Yes my complaints are distro-specific. ALL have their own specific issues. I've been there, done that. Life's too short to waste on fixing RST's on Linux.