The vast vast majority of people want to click on the Firefox icon and go to Facebook. People have lives that are busy, and the computer is a tool to get a job done. How many people "explore" the engine of their cars? Not many.
They are removing so many simple things like that pretty much everyone expects to be there that it's becoming ridiculous. The fact that the option to change some config exists does not in anyway prevent someone from clicking on the firefox icon and going to Facebook. (and I really hate the attitude that most assume people just want to go to facebook. The fact is most people do a whole lot more with their machine than most simplists are assuming with no data to back it up.)
I'm all for sane defaults but don't remove every configuration knob.
P.S. I don't understand why the screen saver is important (or why it even exists, for that matter).
I was hoping that this was a deliberate move by Canonical to save energy.
However, I was a little puzzled to not find it there.
In over a dozen years, I've never heard my wife ask me: "how do I change my screen saver?". In over 30 years, I've never heard either of my parents say: "how do I change my screen saver?" I've also never heard this question from aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers, cousins, nieces nor nephews. It's not for lack of questions. At holiday events I wear the T-Shirt that says: "Yes. I'm a software Engineer. No. I will not fix your computer".
That said, Unity might deter the most enthusiastic newbies, the sort that go on to inhabit support forums and help others.
Everybody who I know who uses or tries ubuntu is either: - A software developer of some kind. - An advanced or else adventurous user who wants perspective. - A family member of one of the above.
Neither of those is "mainstream" in that sense. And making product mainly used by X while keeping Z in mind is a troublesome tactic.