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"Easy video editing ala iMovie? Easy photo management ala iPhoto/Windows XP? Easy DVD creation ala iDVD? The ability to watch DVD movies out of the box legally?"

now you got me...;-)

i don't have a digital camera or even a camcorder, so i don't know if there's something similar for linux like the stuff you mentioned. as for one good and complete mediaplayer, well we all now there are at least 2 and i fully agree that the big distributions should at least incorporate one of them preconfigured.

but hey, let's get serious-the progress that linux on desktop has made during the last couple of years is truly stunning, considering that most of the work is done by volunteers or by rel. small distributions which are still operating close to break-even. they are competing with multibillion enterprises here.

again, looking at the broader picture, the gap is closing quickly, and this process will even accelerate because for example of the windows-wannabe-distributions which are putting the classic distributions under heavy pressure in terms of usability and focus on the enduser.

i already said that, if you need to work with commercial apps, linux is (still) not the os for you, but which enduser really needs apps like photoshop, macromedia flash etc.?
most of them just need one big application, and that's an officesuite (and most of those are using just 10% of the features provided).

i guess that with tcpa on the horizon, more and more people will become more sensitive about free (in every sense) software, and might move to linux because they prefer to be independent from big companies.
as for the corporate desktop, the situation looks even better: in germany whole cities, companies etc. are switching to an all-linux-environment.

so all in all, linux on desktop is gaining ground (close to gsin the critical mass), and this process will imo even accelerate.
and i'm very sure, that within a few years, microsoft will going to recognize that on their balance sheet.

i might be too optimistic, but we'll see...