Ubuntu 11.04 is up and running in my system since some days. Takes a little while to get used to the new locations of the application icons. The entire focus of the new UI is to save vertical space. It detected my HP PSC Deskjet K209a directly and print and scan worked out of the box. As usual video, sound everything works. My system, Core i-3 + Intel DH55TC mobo + 2GB DDR3 RAM. No restricted drivers used.
One good change in the installation process is that during the pre-installation questions round, it shows 2 options, one, to download 3rd party hardware drivers and two, to download multimedia codecs and other non-free stuff for full multimedia support (ubuntu-restricted-extras). Check mark both of them and after your installation, your system is up and running with full hardware (If using restricted drivers) and multimedia support.