"Thanks. Any other thoughts"

I didn't try it yet, but there are some very interesting music software titles that are not DAWs and not in VST format. In the past I've used loopMidi to interconnect DAW (and BIAB too) with other standalones. I guess in a similar way as Audiobus works in iOS. Perhaps Win11 Midi support tools will streamline this process and make it more stable.

Another thing that comes to mind is Bluetooth MIDI controllers. I have not read into if/how new stack will improve workflow (connectivity, latency) but will check it out in time, as I have a BT controller that only works with a dongle in Windows.