The situation might have changed since I last used Excel on Mac, but in 2018, the "Excel" on Mac barely resembled the Excel on Windows. Many obvious and useful features were missing.

No longer. Everything is there. Just switched work machines to Mac from Win

Not everything is there. There are still important limitations: https://spreadsheeto.com/mac-vs-windows/

My guess is that the fact you can buy about two to three cheap Dell desktop machines for the price of one Mac probably factors quite heavily into the equation.

It definitely does not run “just fine”. It’s passable at best.