Ubuntu 12.04: more of the same thing...

I was hoping that Ubuntu learned from a year of users complaining about really bad decisions to release a new version that would address the issues or at least try a new approach.

Sadly it seems that they are hell bent on the path of "Ubuntu way or the highway" instead.   My biggest hate for the new Ubuntu is the impossible to hit scrollbar.  Instead of being 10-20 pixels wide, it's now 3 pixels wide.  making it impossible to hit if you have any physical disability at all.  Heck even a good normal user that is over 30 has problems hitting it.   It reduces usability and increases frustration.   This is NOT what ubuntu needs to be doing.   You used to be able to get rid of the horrible tiny scroll bars with pop up sliders, by removing the package, but they wanted to eliminate the ability of people getting rid of them by rolling it into a larger package that can not be removed without crashing the whole UI.    Not cool.

The menu system is a bit smoother,  I still cant get used to the unified top bar for all apps.  This makes the computer feel less like a computer and more like an appliance.   Great for noobies that have never touched a computer in their life,  really bad for anyone that has ever used one.

The first words out of my wifes mouth was, "how do I close firefox?  the top bar is gone!"   I can understand change, but this kind of change without a nice tutorial on first boot to convince you that Ubuntu knows best  is only causing more user frustration.

Finding settings is easier now,  they made the icons look more acceptable and renamed things so that it is far more obvious.  This is better,  but I still dont like the "type what you want" search bar.  Sorry, show me what I want.  I want system tools, then a system tools icon that shows all system tools is far more intuitive than a empty text box.  Installing a different colored theme is still a failure.   Firefox does not use the same color names  so you end up with black text boxes with black text on google.  You must live with how Ubuntu looks by default or suffer with nasty color choice bugs.  This is great if you want your computer to look like everyone elses.

Overall Ubuntu is great for noobies. IT makes a good internet appliance.  but for power users like me, I'm going to move to another distro.  I just cant get to like the "no stupid, do it this way not your way" attitude that Ubuntu delivers now.  and it still does not work right with multiple monitors.  Unity is designed for low end single monitor installs.  Ubuntu is not for power users.

I am going to give Ubuntu 12.04 some more use.  Maybe it will grow on me.  But 11.04 and 11.10 have not.

If I just cant get used to the Ubuntu way, I will probably have to move to another distro that is more for power users and friendly to customization.