I was real close to backing this while there were still $600 slots available but eventually decided against it. I just don't need a new phone at this point (just bought a huuuge extended battery for my S3). The specs look great and I really hope they can pull it off and make it awesome. EDIT: Aaaaaand it appears they've dropped the prices down to $625, $675, and $725 (limited number at each level). Back to considering whether I should get one... +
Mint is doing a really great job in this area. (you're probably right in that they are following in Ubuntu's steps in trying to appeal to non-hackers). I started with Mint and am branching out to other distros now that I am learning how to use the command line better.From all the linux flavors I tried, it is the most user friendly and there is less fighting the OS and more work getting done. Recently I did notice that other flavors are finally looking out for the user (I'm sure they are following Ubuntu steps).