Well yeah, I mean no one forces you to use Explorer for file management under Windows. I'm an old-time Norton Commander user, and when Windows came around I switched to Total Commander. There are open-source alternatives too, even cross-platform ones, like this one: https://doublecmd.sourceforge.io/.
That being said, no one forces you to use Windows either - except maybe your employer or the software you are using, but this is getting less and less of a problem fortunately (web apps, Proton etc.).
This isn't really about using Explorer for file management. It is about using Explorer as the shell. That's the default setup for everybody. Changing the default steel is difficult and some programs may not be compatible with whatever alternative shell you switch to.
Most people don't want to learn a whole new shell. They just want the Explorer shell to have the features that it has had since Windows 7. Features that Microsoft inexplicably chose to remove in Windows 11 and that they are only now belatedly adding back.
That being said, no one forces you to use Windows either - except maybe your employer or the software you are using, but this is getting less and less of a problem fortunately (web apps, Proton etc.).