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In regards to number 2. You can have variables and parameters in Fusion360 -- I use it all the time for adding a tolerance variable and stuff like wall thickness, length, width etc...

Are configurations significantly different?

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Yes, let me clarify. Variables and parameters in a model, which are then driven by a data set are what configurations give you. E.g. some CAD suites allow a CSV/spreadsheet to drive the configurable parameters. OnShape allows for a table-per-variable, avoiding the need to manage combinatorial explosion in the rows of your config table. Alibre Design simply adds configurations as named entities within a model file. While not driven by external data, it allows complete integration into the editor environment which has upsides for my work. (I don't work with big configuration tables, so this works great for me.)

Some suites also allow configurations to enable/disable parametric features. At the simplest, this lets you add boolean changes to the configuration table, like "has mounting holes?" or "is/isn't a full-thread screw" and so forth.

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