I use Xubuntu 10.04, myself. Prior to this, I used Kubuntu 7.10 and then 8.04. The massive improvements in polish and usability over time have impressed me greatly. I just don't have the time or the inclination these days to mess about with things, which is why I use what I use. I have tried other distros, but so far none I've tried (ranging from vanilla Debian, to Fedora, to Puppy, to SliTaz, to Mandriva, to Ubuntu Netbook Remix, and some others I've probably forgotten) match the level of polish I've found in the Ubuntu variants (although, I must admit, I'm not too fond of GNOME, so I don't use the regular flavour of Ubuntu) - even down to such little things such as telling you when you're ok to eject the LiveCD, instead of just restarting the machine without giving you a chance to remove it...
@moz - I know this problem. When you boot the LiveCD/DVD you're using, you should be given an option to provide additional parameters prior to booting. What's happening to you is a sign that you need to add the following two to what should already be there when you choose said option*;
These should make it behave. Try it in live mode first, of course, and bear in mind that at this time, I don't think Ubuntu retains this once installed - it's my only gripe with it at this time. Fedora does retain it, though, I know from experience. (You don't happen to be using a Fujitsu or a Dell machine, do you?)
*(I came across this on my parents' new computer - they prefer Linux also, but their machine had some parts that randomly let out the magic smoke one day and it had to be replaced. I happened to come across this on the new machine.)
EDIT: Also, I forgot to mention that I also use a Macintosh, though it's not my primary machine.