> Or another common problem in X11 is with applications setting the resolution to something weird, crashing and then leaving the screen in a weird state.
Common problem? I’ve never heard of this happening. I suppose hypothetically random applications could trash my X settings but in 20 years they haven’t.
On Windows I have observed random applications do have this power and sometimes exercise it, but the worst it’s ever done is mess up my desktop icon arrangement, by some mechanism I know not the OS reverts the resolution change if the application crashes.