[JeanPierre]

The main problem with the distros available today is their lack of non-free software. No matter how much you or I like free software, Minecraft can't run as good on OpenJDK as on Sun JDK, and I automatically install the proprietary Flash version because the other one's just way too laggy to use. I also always run smxi to get the best graphics drivers and compability with the least amount of work.

And even then I struggle with drivers: I went from a Radeon HD 6870 to a GTX 550 TI just to be able to run Linux on my machine. There is probably some way to install the HD 6870 on a linux machine, but after using 26 hours on that card trying to get it to work (I timed it), I gave up. Imagine if I used those 26 hours on work instead.

People don't care whether stuff is free or not: They just want stuff that works. If you can't get that without setting up non-free repositories and download proprietary graphic drivers for your graphics card, then you won't get normal people to use your operating system.

[user2459]

I see your frustration, but let's try to work it into optimism. Ubuntu itself can't control those things and without out support from vendors it can never have them. What Ubuntu can do is provide a rock solid OS with a simple user experience that will hopefully attract enough users to garner the attention of more vendors. This is mostly the critical mass problem and is a function of economics for vendors. If we give them a large enough economic incentive to support ubuntu, they will come rushing to do it. So for early adopters not everything you're expecting will be there, but if you can pain through or dual boot you'd be helping to ensure it is there for future users.