When I read this article, I was open to hearing how this could be the case, but then I read:

"Working with Ubuntu 12.04 is quite simple and elegant… until you want to sit down and see what applications are available on your system."

Which sounds like it really doesn't blow anything out of the water. Then I also read:

"click the “Ubuntu” button in the top left, then click the little white icon on the bottom center that is, I assume, representative of “a comb, a pencil and a building with pacman on it”. Then you expand the “Installed” section by clicking on the left/center of the screen. Then you click on “Filter Results” in the top right."

WAT? That's the complete opposite of a well-thought-out experience for the user.

So why is it that this GUI environment is superior again?