Ubuntu Installation Polls

Ready to install or upgrade Ubuntu? If you're new to Ubuntu, be warned that with Ubuntu there is a Golden-Rule:

"Don't install the new release until a month or two after its release date".

Ubuntu releases are considerably more stable after a month or two in the wilderness. – That's usually how long it takes for the 'community' to get the bugs worked out.
Most of us who use Ubuntu on our computers really like the OS, so there's a natural tendency to install the newest version as soon as it becomes available. That same tendency is also an important component of development, because it means that the latest version will be thoroughly tested and de-bugged on thousands of different computer hardware configurations.
By the time a new release reaches it's first point version, ie- 10.04.1, it's been tested and patched to work smoothly on as many machines as humanly possible.

Take a look at the installation polls from the Ubuntu Forum.
At every new release we hold a "Install/Upgrade Experience Poll" in the forums. Below is an screenshot of the Lucid Lynx install/update experience poll.
To see the entire poll and read about other's experiences, navigate to the forums; The forum thread has links to polls from previous releases.
One thing to keep in mind while perusing the poll-results is that most/many of the poll participants are using the forums to resolve one issue or another, so the results will be somewhat weighted towards those attendees. Keep in mind too, that the forums are very active, (Ubuntu users, by and large, tend to be more involved than users of proprietary systems), and participation in discussions, as well as attendance at the forums – to help out and to learn – is also very high.

Personally, I'll stick to my guns when it comes to Installing vrs. upgrading – I'll always prefer a fresh install over an upgrade. Having a separate /home partition makes it possible to do that while retaining the integrity of your settings, files and folders.

I feel it's worthwhile to know that Ubuntu 10.04 LTS, the Lucid Lynx, ushers in some major changes to the way this OS works at its core, and if ever there was a release that warranted a fresh install over an upgrade, it's Lucid Lynx. There are many tools available in the form of applications, plugins and extensions that can make migrating via fresh install considerably easier than it might seem.