Recent testing revealed that Arch Linux, Pop!_OS, and even Nobara Linux, which is maintained by a single developer, all outstripped Windows for the performance crown on Windows-native games. The testing was run at the high-end of quality settings, and Valve's Proton was used to run Windows games on Linux.
I don’t think that is a widely accepted holistic definition of malware. But even if, AC is not waisting resources. It’s taking the resources it needs to perform its job.