It use to be much easier to fix this problem when the vid-card or
monitor were not properly detected; we could go to the system settings
program and select the right ones. Now, we can't and we're forced to
solve the problem on our own and even play with the xorg.conf file.

Reply: Yes, and we also used to have it so that if you messed up you were on
your own to fix it. Changing video drivers changed when xorg 7.3 came out and
Ubuntu adopted BulletProofX with Gutsy which basically tests the new driver and
gives you the option to go back before disaster strikes. If things do go wrong,
it will revert to vesa and you can try again instead of resorting to the
commandline.

We often forget that the good old days weren't always as good as we remember.

www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=NjczNA

If I remember correctly it only works with GDM which might explain some
problems I had with Kubuntu and white screens when I triend to enable
compiz without the right driver.