Ubuntu always let people do what they want to do, it pushes its users to know what they are doing, what they want and helps them learn what they ignore.
Ubuntu is simple, works out-of-the-box after installation and has a incredibly huge community behind.
Ubuntu is lightweight and open, in the way, that the user has access to free AND efficient applications (most of the time, without ads) and, even if learning its folder structure is challenging, once done, you are really able to call yourself "someone who knows what is in your computer".
Windows, in comparison, is heavy, tends to make decision for you and always enable tracking application by default. grr
It has a simple user interface, of course, but on the stability point of view, it is hard to compete with something simpler (even with less features).
Personal preference : I prefer something simple that works 99% of the time, than a full-featured auto-magical system that works 50% of the time (and ask if the good version of the driver is really installed...)
