I've used Ubuntu and it's my favorite distro of Linux. Used it for years after I settled on it. Back when I ran my first forum, Ayeka's Bliss, I ran my own server, and compiled everything I could on it. I had an IRC server, ShoutCast server, and a bunch of other normal things like FTP and junk. Before I made the switch to Ubuntu, I was rebooting my server nearly every day. Yeah, as awesome as Windows XP was, it was still pretty trashy. (We're talking 2003 - 4, here.)
I also had an Acer laptop back in 2010, and the hard drive just died on it. I was super pissed off, because I had 80% of a business plan nearly completed on that laptop, and it was gone! I was also broke, so I couldn't afford to get a replacement hard drive. Luckily, I remembered that I had a copy of Ubuntu on a USB stick and I installed the ISO to the same USB stick. It worked! I seriously didn't think it would but it was a game changer for me, because now, I could literally take my entire computer with me in my pocket wherever I went. I thought it was pretty neat.
Today, I have a copy of Ubuntu on this crappy ASUS laptop with 2 GB of RAM I got from Best Buy. I still haven't really had a need to use the laptop, because I use my smartphone for most things when I'm on the go. Anyway, I put Ubuntu on there becase I wanted to play around with the OS some more. I will say, it's one of the most stable distros I had the pleasure of working with. Maybe if I ever get a desk job again, I'll have a need to use a laptop, and I'm pretty sure that I'll just keep using Ubuntu. At least that's not tied down to a stupid subscription service, like Window$ is going to starting with version 12.... but that's a rant for another day.