I have not tried Vista and I have absolutely no intention of doing so :-)

The problem is that Ubuntu is not being promoted as a developers'
haven. If it were, I wouldn't gripe about the constant 'tweaking' that
goes on - I would still find it a major PITA, but I wouldn't gripe about
it :-)

No, Ubuntu is being promoted as a mainstream desktop OS, a potential
rival to Windows, as "Linux for human beings" and the developers need to
keep in mind that this project is not being run solely for their
pleasure and convenience - sure, it has to be kept interesting for them,
or they'll jump ship to a project they find more interesting, I'm enough
of a geek to know that, at least. But they have to keep in mind that
the product they are developing is not being aimed at developers or
geeks or people even remotely approaching that level of computing
knowledge and experience - or desire to tweak and play with the system.
Therefore, to change something simply because the developer prefers it
that way rather than changing it because the end user prefers it that
way is a problem.

~/.Trash may not be the most logical place to put the trash can - but a
geek wannabee, like myself, or just a plain Average Joe can find it
easily should the need arise. ~/.local/share/Trash may be more logical
but no novice would ever look for it there (even assuming that they know
about hidden files and how to find them). And the change also means
that a well meaning individual, such as myself, who wants to help his
fellow traveller in Linuxland gives advice that is *wrong*.
Potentially, a very dangerous situation. Add to that the fact that such
changes mean that a knowledge base has to be set up and maintained for
each and every version of Ubuntu and you have a potential minefield.
(Yes, I know the same applies to each and every version of Windows - but
they don't come along at the rate of two each year, do they?)

And just why do my OOo templates (not actual templates in the strict
meaning of the word; they're actually plain old text documents which I
copy-cut-and-paste in) change with every upgrade? I'm using the same
fonts, the same font sizes, the same line spacings - in fact, the same
everything - after all.

And there have been many people - one just recently, IIRC - who have
said that they are sick and tired of the two days they have to take to
reinstall software when they wipe their Windows drive and reinstall the
OS. Well, I have to do that every six months after an *upgrade* - we're
not talking a total wipe and reinstall here, 'just' an upgrade. OK, if
there's a program that has to be removed because it would break or be
broken by a change in library revision or similar, then that's
understandable - but let's have a huge 'You do know this is about to
happen, don't you?' style warning. And I'm talking about standard
programs that are in the standard repositories here, so they *shouldn't*
break or be broken by the upgrade anyway!

Any and all of these issues could be enough to disillusion any potential
converts to Linux. And when they discuss their problems with other
potential converts, you can bet anything you like that they *won't* say
"I had a number of niggles with Ubuntu, but you should try some of the
other Linux distros, you'll find one that works for you" - no, they'll
say "Linux is crap, don't touch it."

In short, if Ubuntu is to truly become "Linux for human beings" then
there has got to be some thought given to consistency in design and
operation and the needs and expectations of the end user have got to be
given priority over the desires of the developers. Only then will
Ubuntu - or any other Linux distro for that matter - become a serious
contender for the mass user desktop market.