Remember that you were there to do any system administration. Any kid will have no problem figuring out virtually any desktop be it Windows, Mac or one of many alternatives of Linux. After all you (double) click on whatever you want and if it is already running often the program will be brought to the front instead of a new copy.

But consider what happens when Ubuntu does an update - if pam gets updated you get a list of services to restart that is gobbeldy gook to almost all.

And most operating systems still make adding printers confusing, and troubleshooting printing issues virtually impossible.