Having expressed some sympathy with your previous criticisms, I have to
retract here. Many of the issues you raise just aren't issues anymore -
such as the gui package manager, or the appearance of newly installed
apps on menus. Not using an old version are you?

As for Sony compatibility, I swore off that company after 3 audio
machines in succession failed as soon as they were out of guarantee. But
I've heard very often of how Sony prevents its computer customers from
doing what they want with the hardware they've paid for, it doesn't
surprise me. Your irritation should be with Sony not with Ubuntu.