This is a issue. I would contact whoever you purchased it from and talk about a return or repair. Especially if you got it directly from apple.

Yes it will work. Hook your drive up to the macbook through the USB© port and open the time machine app. Follow the steps from within the app.

Parallels is a popular option, though it is paid and im not sure how well it performs.

Also doesnt adobe have a macos native for those?

Do you have access to an external display? It sounds like the display isnt going active for some reason and seeing if it would light up a external display can narrow it down.

No. This is perfectly fine. It is designed in a way that allows it to be used this way. Any possible effect this has on the battery (in the long term*) is not measurable by current technology.

I use a K1 at home and I like it. I would have gone with a little different switches but that is a personal preference thing. As for the magic keyboard i dont recommend it, the difference between it and the built in keyboard is pretty nonexistent in my opinion.

Your taking about a 15 inch screen over a 13 inch display. Itll work fine but it will look kinda wonky and certainly wont close (dont even try you will cause more damage). It will work with type c to c as long as you have a display capable usb c to c cable.

I certainly dont recommend taping it to display either, you will increase the likely hood of the display receiving further damage which in turn increases the likely hood of glass shards ending up in places they dont go.

Considering that new would have easily gone for about $1500 (minimum, i forgot what the upgrades and starting were), and it only has 150 cycles (battery health is far more important than cycles) I would consider that a good deal if all else is right.

I mean its better than the M2. But the core issue is still that many games arent written natively for ARM or Mac, so if its even possible to run there is a huge performance depredation

Yes. It is fine to own a mac and not any other apple products. Apple products simply enhance eachothers value.

No. This is not normal. See if apple will still cover it. They guarantee 1000 cycles @ 80% life. Not sure on their exact terms though so i dont know if its covered since you are out of the manufacturers warranty.

You would have to use a virtual machine (Parallels is a popular choice but is a paid service). I have ran linux through a UTM virtual machine and it ran well enough for what i needed.