You are correct about a few of the programs, but some of them need to be on the desktop. I need instant access to Ring to see who's at the door. Zoom and Free Conference Call often have to be accessed quickly if there is an ongoing meeting. VLC is needed so that I can drop files into the icon and have them play. The rest are just there as part of the set, but I could technically remove them.
Regarding keeping things at the edge, I find it easier to group genres together.
Hitting the windows key then typing "zo.." and hitting enter, doesn't require any mouse input and should be faster. As for vlc have it pinned to your taskbar (which is anyway more useful when your trying to drag from an open program).
בשעת הדחק have the grouped sections split up by folders, you may even find it faster.
I also noticed your icons size seems a bit too big. My 14" laptop has 8 x 20.
Do you really have an itunes shortcut on your desktop?🤦♂️