I'm a complete newbie, and used the 8.10 Hardy a couple of times. I can say this, that it really isn't very easy to do everything that you want to do. Simple things like playing music and watching movies need packages to be downloaded and installed, which is not only time consuming,but sometimes very frustrating to look into the forums and wikis for help each time you come up with a problem, and without the internet, it certainly is very difficult. But I don't have the right to complain, do I? I got it for free, and I love the open source concept, without licencing fees. However, I intend to use it in future, and so, I have come up with a few ideas, which may make Ubuntu a user experience. Please post your comments below this, and add on what you thing will be useful.I'd suggest,

1) Making the UI(User Interface) better with better graphics, which does not need a video card, or graphics cards. 
2) Having all the repositories included, which does not need the Internet for downloading additional stuff.
3) Minimizing running the linux commands like sudo, and making it more suggestive, with several options for the user, when an issue comes up.
4) And I don't know if everyone gets this problem, maybe its not an issue at all, but I'd suggest, that the font size, and the icon sizes be reduced considerably, as it really appears very bulky.

Thats all that I can think of at this point of time, and invite you to join in with your thoughts and opinions.

Cheers!