Default install Gnome2 Ubuntus, pre-PulseAudio, were the only desktop Linux distros I've used, before or after, from the "it just works" end of the spectrum and with a full-featured DE, that didn't leave me wishing I'd started with something minimalist and built it up to where I needed it instead. Some time around when they got GUI wifi tools to mostly not suck, near the end of that time period, was their peak.
