If there is one thing about Ubuntu that really elevates it above other distros it has to be the range of software available in its repositories. If that wasn't enough PPAs extend the available applications even further. Why compile from source when binaries for almost everything exist. Wine, for example, is available at version 1.2 and FreeGuide is available at version 0.10.9. On any other distro you'd be compiling FreeGuide from source.
The Desktop Environment is delivered by LXDE and the beauty of this system is that it works very like Gnome Panels. So much so that it is possible to drag your initial panel with main menu, Desktop Pager and Task Switcher to the top of the screen, remove the Task Switcher and Desktop Pager, add another panel at the bottom of the screen and add Minimise All Windows, Task Switcher and the Desktop Pager to that panel et voila: Gnome Panels. It looks and works just like the good old Panels, but configuration is slightly more complex and I admit I failed to create custom launchers for World of Warcraft and the Ergodex. In the end this wasn't as massive problem as I simply butchered two pre-installed Penguin games in the Games Folder. This process is completely straight forward as is adding menu items to the panel and ordering them.
I like Lubuntu, it's OK, I just don't understand why it's not exciting me more. Maybe the svelte, memory saving LXDE disappoints by not delivering a significantly faster performance where it matters: in applications. Perhaps my daily use of it with the netbook has robbed the distro of some of its novelty and some of the pleasure of it's simplicity. Debian is still king of the desktop on my main box.