I am using 11.10 on both my desktop and netbook. I have Unity
installed on both, but prefer Kubuntu (KDE) on my desktop. I am trying
Unity on the netbook. There are things to get used to, things to like
and dislike. I can see using on the desktop as well once I get a
handle on it.

I upgraded to 11.10 via ISO on the netbook and did a fresh
installation on my desktop computer. Both worked well. I used
Unetbootin to create a usb key for each from the downloaded ISOs
(Ubuntu 32-bit and Kubuntu 64-bit). For the netbook, it detected 11.04
and asked if I wanted to upgrade. Since I have a separate home
partition, I said yes and it upgraded, then updated packages. I was
impressed. With the desktop computer I installed a fresh version of
Kubuntu using the 64-bit version. I later added Unity, GNOME classic,
GNOME shell, Unity 2D, Lubuntu, E17 and Xubuntu. Everything works
except GNOME shell. I get a crash and my bug report is fairly common
it seems. They are working on it. Also Software Centre crashes in KDE,
but not Unity. Another bug. There are a few. This is still beta2.

Unity is much maligned. I prefer it to GNOME Shell. Neither is for
everybody. However, the choices for traditional desktop users are
shrinking because that is the way it is. Even MS recognises this with
W8 and Apple with Lion. If you like a traditional desktop try Xubuntu,
Lubuntu or Kubuntu instead, but keep an open mind on Unity and GNOME
Shell. Do not switch to Mint or another distro because they will have
to change as well and have not made up their minds yet. Fedora has
gone with GNOME shell, but some users are unhappy. Linus Torvalds
switched from Fedora with GNOME to XFCE and this touched off a debate.
GNOME Shell haters came out of the closet. F16 is now delayed by two
weeks due to problems between SELinux and GNOME Shell preventing
logging in (they are switching to grub2 among other things). OpenSuSE
is also delaying by a similar period due to many problems with their
Live CD. They are mostly KDE so unaffected by desktop debates. All
things considered I think that K/Ubuntu 11.10 has been a smooth ride
and I am starting two weeks early. Official launch in October 13th.