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I've found that if ChromeOS would suit a user's needs, so would a polished distribution like Ubuntu with a browser like Firefox or Chrome.

Yes but its cheaper and battery life is great and the user doesnt have to worry about upgrades.

If you want to get a Linux based laptop for casual users and dont want to maintain it, just get them a chromebook.

It is also a good everyday machine I can use to ssh into my desktop for real work.

In my experience, I haven't had to worry about updates or maintenance of Ubuntu installations for casual users.