I definitely get that, and that’s really the way Home Assistant is designed to be. The OS install is the way I would recommend as an install for any new user not familiar with the basics of linux and docker. It was very hard for me to start out this way, but I didn’t really have a choice because I’m running an NVR and Ubuntu, and would have had to give that up or get another machine. The container install gave me the flexibility to run everything on the same machine and keep my OS.
But for you, the hard part was already done and you are already running the container version. I just couldn’t see going back to a managed OS myself, and I think anything you gain with the convenience of access to the addons will be lost with the rigidity of an OS you can’t control and the associated problems that come up that are now more difficult to fix. Based on that linked thread, it looks like something is wrong with either the new supervisor or OS, or who knows what, but we don’t have to worry about it on our end.
To your other points:
Its not in the browser, but I have Samba configured on Ubuntu and can access the config files in any windows laptop with a file editor . I also have Wireguard running in a container for a VPN and can access the config files remotely through Samba anywhere when I activate the VPN - I set it up this way - Wireguard Container
I can update easily through portainer by just going to “recreate” in the container and checking “pull latest image”
I get this is not all “one place” like Home Assistant OS but it isn’t too hard to go to these different screens/programs. If that’s definitely important to you I get switching, but just be aware of the downsides:
1- You probably will sacrifice performance. Docker is much more lightweight and able to manage resources better on its own. Just see the stories in the linked thread above from people running similar hardware to you with their performance specs posted.
2- You’re adding more layers - ie the supervisor, which is supposed to make things easier by doing it for you, but it creates more paths for failure and things to go wrong.
3- The HassOS is stripped down and sandboxed, you won’t be able to run most linux commands or install apt packages. This makes it much harder to fix and diagnose problems when things go wrong.
4- You won’t be able to install anything else on the machine outside of Home Assistant or an addon. This might not be that important to you now but could be a huge issue down the road.