I agree. As a matter of UI, I never understood the appeal of the Windows centric layout:
- If "Start" button doesn't behave like a button.
- If "Start" is a menu, its position docked at the bottom-left is unusual because that usually contains settings for control but "Start" doesn't control anything about the desktop.
- As a menu "Start" is clumsy where navigation of more than two levels in another system that menu would be a target for redesign.
- If "Start" is a file explorer, then the interface is inconsistent (sometimes you click to navigate...or hover...or double click?).
And so on. Doing the "Explain It To Grand Mother" test usually exposes all of the weirdness about Windows. It always seemed to me people figured out how to work with the Windows desktop in spite of itself. I'm all for Ubuntu going in another direction: Don't make it like Windows or MacOS but learn from all of them and come up with something different. Even saying that, this different thing maybe a problem or a failure so Ubuntu should also include a fall back desktop that contains the most basic UI layout.