I guess it depends on whether you are installing afresh or just sick of an existing Ubuntu installation.
I've done both, I prefer the clean sheets smell of a fresh Xubuntu installation but installing the Xubuntu package does the job.
I gotta agree, I've tried several other distros and despite sticking with them long enough to work out what I needed to do to get the setup I desired, they were no way as easy to install, configure and use. All our machines at home run Mandriva 2007 and even the non-technical family members find the distro very stable and user-friendly. I'll be updating to Spring.