fwiw, there’s a command called UseExtrusions… if you run that then choose ‘polysurface’, extruded curves will result in polysurfaces instead of the lighter weight extrusions (which, yes, for certain operations, you need to explode an extrusion then rejoin as a polysurface).
note- this command works more like a preference… whatever you set it to will be remembered even upon a relaunch… the default setting is ‘Extrusion’.