ubuntu lucid saves a fujitsu laptop

rev.addn/xuw/why linux on xpw didn't work:
5.10:
. I had linux on this laptop once before;
so, what were the problems that had me switching back?
. I couldn't get screen brightness down;
then I crippled the wifi trying to network with mac .
5.11:
. there are ubuntu pages for my new wifi card,
but that wasn't a problem if I didn't mess with networking .
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1387483
http://www.backports.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1353044

5.31: summary:

. ubuntu 10.04 (lucid) did find my laptop's wifi
and even the brightness -- a feat mac can't do
even with it's own monitors! (imac 24") .

. I first tried the netbook version
and couldn't figure out why the menu's icon's were so huge .
huge icons are great on an ipod touch,
but they were making me [/]scroll
through a tiny menu!
. I got obsessive about rearranging the submenu's
so that none of them would need scrolling .
. along the way I delete any icons I didn't need;
duh, it was as if I'd actually deleted app's .
. after that I lost control of the gui
and couldn't even find a way to reach a terminal!

. I finally got back in there
after installing a 2nd ubuntu
(try the desktop version this time);
when I went back in rescue mode
it would add a lightweight gui
where I could backup my bookmarks etc .

. the desktop edition with gnome windows
is really working well .
. there are several niceties that expect gnome:
mercurial distributed version control,
and a default login that was auto-starting my wifi
-- I lost the auto-start after switching
from gnome to xfce4 .
. the reason I switched is that when you do ctrl-tab
to switch between windows,
gnome does the huge flashy act
that gives me epileptic fits !
. I like the {mac, pc} style of just showing
an array of icons, not flipping through every window .
. but I'm definitely going back
for mercurial integration .