Ubuntu an Alternative to Linspire?

[Ed Sutherland]

I'm a Linspire 5.0 user but am looking for a bit more flexibility. I'm 
looking at Ubuntu because it is debian-based, includes more recent 
versions of my favorite applications, and does have wide support both 
from the user community and a commercial entity.

But (and you know one of those just had to appear) I don't want to give 
up the positive aspects of Linspire: zero configuration, perfect 
hardware detection and Windows support (I'm able to access my XP 
partition and use my Windows truetype fonts.)

Am I asking for too much, or can Ubuntu provide me more freedom but not 
at the expense of desktop user friendliness? (I hope the answer is yes. 
After weeks in Linux, going back to XP is a jarring experience.)

Thanks.

Ed