What version of Ubuntu to install on Thinkpad X220?

[seanh]

Hi, I've just bought a Thinkpad X220i for my partner. It came with
Windows 7 installed and I want to install Ubuntu dual-boot for her as
Ubuntu is what she uses. I'm trying to decide which version would be
best to install for her. Does anyone have any experience with Ubuntu
10.04/10.10/11.04 on this laptop?

Normally I would go for 10.04 as the latest LTS releases. This user is
someone who just wants her computer to be familiar and work reliably
for a long time without upgrading, she isn't interested in the latest
features. However, for 10.04 the certification page for the X220 has
several notes about installing proprietary drivers and backports,
changing configuration files, etc.:

http://www.ubuntu.com/certification/hardware/201102-7303

For 10.10 the certification page has just one note about the card
reader only supporting some cards.  Does that mean that if I install
10.10 I don't have to then install the proprietary drivers and
backports and modify the configuration file as noted for 10.04?

For 11.04 the certification page doesn't say anything. Anyone tried it?
I'm tempted to avoid 11.04 anyway as it contains some radical new UI
stuff that I think will irritate this user at first just because it's
so different, and that I think is likely to be rough around the edges
in its first release.

Also, the certification page mentions a pre-installed special image of
Ubuntu 10.10 that is available from the manufacturer, but the Lenovo
store doesn't give any option to buy this laptop with Ubuntu
pre-installed and I can't find any Ubuntu image to download on the
Lenovo site. I'd be interested to know what this special image from
Lenovo contains that I can't get from a stock Ubuntu 10.10. I'll try
calling Lenovo about it tomorrow.