One thing I don't miss... backports. It's the reason I switched from openSUSE to Arch Linux (before Tumbleweed came about). The nice thing about a rolling release is that everyone mostly lives in the same world. It makes it easier to get help because the whole user base is running the same stuff. Bug reports go upstream fast because they are more easily identified as current and relevant.

Backports are very often segregated from the distribution in the land of "not officially supported" by anyone. Neither you nor the upstream can get help with the same strength that the official bundle can.

Now if only we could all agree on what "stable" means then maybe we could get more distributions rolling

Waiting patiently for next Ubuntu LTS in April '12.

Arch Linux........

Loves the customization it offers.

It has to be Linux Mint flavour for me this year. Next year I'm hoping to vote for Pinguy OS which I've been trying for the last couple of months - so far so good with not too many unexpected glitches. In the past I've tried a few of the mentioned distros without really getting to grips with them. Oh yeah... And Android on my moby is just the dog's doodahs!

Mandriva 2010.2 WAS the best, it is dying distro. Mageia have the same advantage for newbie, and the same look and feel as Mandriva 2010, because it is made by the same people. Only one is true against Mageia - a poor documentation. In Russian there is nothing except some news translated with Google translator.
Mandriva 2011 also good and stable but it totally diverse in conception and philosophy.

For me it has to be CrunchBang. Lightweight, debian based and minimal UI based in OpenBox. It is like a racecar, purpose built. I don't find myself spending a lot of time tweaking the system as much as I did in Ubuntu/Mint before #!.

Though unity is disappointing I chose to stay with Ubuntu

I like Ubuntu 2.7 with gnome , but I haven't been able to get newer version than 2.7 to boot live on any of my computers. Figure that's because they are using unity desktop, but may not be. Neanderthal

Ubuntu (more specifically, Ubuntu Studio) is now my distro of choice (I too stay away from Unity for several reasons, and prefer XFCE4 or KDE Plasma dte's...).

Started using Linux with Slackware, but after much frustration with package management, eventually switched. I really love apt package manager, and updating / upgrading is a breeze!

I do however still have a Slackware installation that has a poor to lousy internet connection, and so for a net-free linux Slackware still rules! I simply download req. packages from Slackbuilds.org with a connected pc, and then copy over to the Slackware machine. I see both as good to great desktop distro's...

I use Arch and Slackware, but my vote goes to Linux Mint this time Ease of use to attract linux newcomers.

Well i decided i wasn't going to vote because i feel that most distros are pretty much the same, and i couldn't decide between my two favorites, Debian ans Slackware. Recently i've decided that Slackwares flexibility makes it the superior distribution, and gives it the leg up it needed to inspire a vote; so +1 to Slackware.
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Puppy Linux

Ubuntu 2.7(???)

No one can argue the advantages of Ubuntu. Ease of use with tremendous access to software makes it hard to beat. I'm liking 11.10 with gnome shell and my own customizations.

I also have Chakra installed on a machine where Ubuntu fails. I can see myself returning to Kde full time after the Unity/Gnome3 debacle.

Honorable mention has to go to Semplice for a nice implementation of Debian and Openbox.

I don't normally comment on these votes but Arch really does it for me. It's so flexible. Once it's up and running the desktop is only a matter of choice. And other desktops are only pacman away.