Recs.
Updated
This distro, based on the Ubuntu LTS with a custom desktop environment called Pantheon, is a turnkey OS with a focus on user experience design.
SpecsUpdate
Pros
Pro Consistent development practices
All Elementary apps are written in Vala and hosted on Launchpad, and there are standard APIs such as contractor for applications to interact with one another. This is different from most distros, in which apps are written in a variety of languages. This design decision makes it easy to get started developing for Elementary and to understand how the various pieces fit together.
Cons
Con Very slow development cycle
Elementary does not offer any release date for their stable releases, they're going more with a "it's done when it's done" attitude. This makes depending on newer apps a difficulty as well as a poor choice for those that need consistent release schedules for their OS.
Recommendations
Comments
Flagged Pros + Cons
Con Poor Linux community reputation
The devs of elementary OS feel anyone not paying for their Ubuntu respin are not worthy of using it. Which upset a good bit of people. Obviously the core dev team has issues with their community outreach and PR.