Do You Ubuntu?

I downloaded Ubuntu Linux last night and gave it an install on our old 12" HP laptop. My initial thoughts? Why does it only use 60% of the screen?!? It's a 12" screen to begin with, but Ubuntu leaves a 1-1.5" border all the way around the outside edge. I tried changing the screen resolution, but I only had one choice, and it was already selected. There were drop down menus that dropped out of site and I couldn't even see all my choices! Second, the reason I installed this over the old Windows 98 is that I was sick of trying to figure out where to put the info I needed to get Windows to connect to the internet. It seems that Ubuntu's "Find settings automatically" feature works about as good as Windows 98. In other words, it doesn't seem to work. All that said, I'm not nearly good enough on computers to want to dink around with these types of problems all the time. It really shouldn't be that hard. Isn't there something that "just works?" Oh yeah, my two Macs! I'll spend a little bit of time searching the Ubuntu site for help, but it really isn't worth too much hassle. The worst case scenario is that I'll reinstall Win 98 and throw the laptop back on a shelf. Seems to be at its best when its off.