Thanks for the advice! The 16 is probably as overkill as you say, but I've come to prefer a larger machine to work on.
I already have Proxmox installed on a secondhand mini-pc (one of those NUC / thin-client like office machines) and it's been a great way to (re)learn a few things indeed!
Yeah the proposition of Framework is what draws me to it. Price-wise it's more expensive than any other alternative, but it's still quite unique, and it ticks a lot of boxes that other don't (open-source firmware keyboard on a laptop ? whaaaaa) Your dual boot setup is interesting! How did you manage to get this setup? Is it just a matter of installing windows on the external storage and selecting it as priority when booting? It would be nice to have the option.