Screaming Penguin - Source Does Matter

Review: Ubuntu's New 'Gutsy Gibbon' Brings Linux Out of the Jungle

I haven't tried 7 yet, but older versions of Ubuntu have themselves been quite impressive. In terms of desktop adoption, as we all know, Linux has suffered from one key problem; peripherals not just working "out of the box." Don't get me wrong, the standard OS/filesystem/utilities/system you get with Linux is second to none - the reason it makes so much sense as a server, IMO. Generally though, in the past, additional desktop requirements like printing, audio, video, external sources like USB thumb drives and digital cameras, etc, could be problematic. These things could be nailed, if you were willing to spend some time pecking for drivers and tweaking, but underlying updates could send you back to square one.

When, and if, Linux gets past the 90% problem on the desktop, more people would definitely consider going back to it (for example, some people, such as myself, have turned to Mac as a desktop, with BSD underpinnings it can do much of the same shell/util/system stuff I want, and also works almost flawlessly to play movies and music and so on).

An infusion of focus, and cash, is exactly what Linux needed to tackle the last 10%. This is what Canonical has provided, and it appears they are closing in on the goal.

"Wi-Fi, printing, my digital camera and even my iPod all worked immediately after installation -- no drivers or other software required."