Installing an OS is not really supported by the SSD manufacturers. This is a computer skill. It is pretty easy these days with modern operating systems but you will need to find instructions on the net somewhere. Youtube and google are good resources to find OS install instructions.
You do not NEED the dashboard. You can use it to check for FW update and drive health but it is not needed. You can install it after you install the OS or you can install it abefore to get the cloning software. You will need the orginal HDD in the PC and a USB to SATA cable to clone the HDD to the SSD.
Yes for a fresh install make sure the BIOS is set to AHCI. This will give you best performance. If you are cloning the SATA mode can’t be changed as the wrong driver would load. If you need to change the SATA mode a fresh install is always recommended.
There is not much need to over provision the SSD as there is some already built into the drive. if you want additional over provisioning simply leave some unallocated space when you are creating your partitions.
