A lot of modern packages which began outside emacs have now been
gradually been merged into the main emacs tree and come pre-installed
(use-package for clean per package configuration, eglot for LSP
support, tree-sitter, which-key etc). So you just need to learn how to
configure them.
The most important packages which make emacs feel "modern" that are
still outside the emacs tree for now are the ones which makes
completion better, both in the main buffer and also in the minibuffer
(what others may call your "command palette"). They are
- consult: search and navigation commands, provides candidates for...
- vertico: vertical display of candidates in the minibuffer
- marginalia: annotations for the candidates
- orderless: orderless fuzzy match for candidates
- embark: right mouse context menu for candidates
Getting these setup would make your whole journey onwards much
smoother.
The most important packages which make emacs feel "modern" that are still outside the emacs tree for now are the ones which makes completion better, both in the main buffer and also in the minibuffer (what others may call your "command palette"). They are
- consult: search and navigation commands, provides candidates for...
- vertico: vertical display of candidates in the minibuffer
- marginalia: annotations for the candidates
- orderless: orderless fuzzy match for candidates
- embark: right mouse context menu for candidates
Getting these setup would make your whole journey onwards much smoother.