... we'll do our best to get you through it.
) 
I don't know why you're dismissing *buntu out of hand, but it [Kubuntu] does all the above, and much more, for me without issue. But, really, ANY modern Linux distro will be able to handle those tasks, so I'd suggest just trying various flavors via live CDs until you find one you especially like.
The FIRST thing I do when I take a new computer out of its box is wipe the drive and install Linux. I've never worried about, nor have I had any issues with, voiding its warranty. I've only bought HP laptops (and desktops) for some time now (with the exception of my recent Acer Chromebook purchase), and have really had no problems with them, but one fluke thing did occur. A laptop that was still under warranty had a problem with its power supply. Considering it was still under warranty, I figured I'd let HP pay for fixing it rather than doing it myself. I told HP straight out that I had installed Linux on the hard drive and did not want it touched. They told me that in their routine of repairing ANY issue, they wipe the drive and reinstall window$ back to the way it was when it shipped. I REFUSED. In the end, I told them I would remove the drive and send the laptop without it. First they said they HAD to have it, and I said, NO you don't--you can stick ANY like hard drive in it to test the system, it doesn't have to be THIS ONE. And that's how it went.
There's no way I could ever be limited to the piss-poor environment that window$ is. I have decades of relying on things like multiple desktops that I simply could not give up. If M$ ever simply switches over to Linux as its OS, but still calls it window$ (as Apple did with UNIX under the hood), then I might consider it!
As much as I love Kubuntu, I don't see Ubuntu phones doing much of anything in terms of market share. I think if someone--like me, for example--wants a Linux-based phone, they're just more likely to go for Android and its amazing selection of phones and apps.
My current laptop is an HP. I've had no problems with it and I'm actually surprised because I've read so many negative things about HP.
Maybe that's why I'm content with Windows. I never really used multiple desktops or even the command line other than just to learn a few things back in my Debian days. Once I got it set up how I liked it I pretty much used it just like windows lol.
I think that the app selection is the major thing any competitor will have to overcome. I never realized that there really is an app for almost anything until I started using Android!
NO ONE's a bigger *buntu fan than me!
I've proselytized about my favorite *buntu, Kubuntu, so much around here that a number of members have switched to it [or at least tried it].Perhaps. It's kind of hard to say, you know? I mean, for me personally, I just have no inclination to switch from Android--which does everything I want and keeps me endlessly occupied with apps--to Ubuntu; and since Android is also Linux-based, all is well in my universe.
But would you do that in PLACE of Android or in ADDITION to it? I can't justify having two working smartphones [when I don't even get an AT&T signal at home], so it would have to be either/or for me. Of course I could keep the Android one for doing what I currently do, i.e., play games, connect via wi-fi, etc. Basically anything that doesn't require a signal.
aarr i have sorted it now
