content: From what I can tell, it's because he views the PC as an inherently dying platform.  Ultimately Shuttleworth didn't get into this to promote free software, he got into it to make money; Ubuntu was something of a long-term investment.  As the money is headed towards portable (namely, tablets and smart phones), he is trying to incline the distribution to go more in that direction.  Add in the thought that you have to be "innovative," even though just because something is new doesn't mean it's good, and you pretty much have the current situation.  Again though, this is all from what I've observed. In terms of Wayland, I'm hesitant to put out too much of a judgment.  However, I'm skeptical that it's going to fulfill everything it's supposed to be.  X11 is where it is now because it's entrenched, and it works, and it doesn't rely on half-assed compatibility akin to other tech products that have tried to replace themselves, but fail because it wrecks compatibility.  However, it's new and shiny, so into Ubuntu it goes. From what I've read about Wayland I almost expect it to end up something like another systemd.