It is a little overrated but it's excellent for new users because it's tried, tested and has a massive community behind it. Sure a lot of other things have big communities too (Fedora for example) but Ubuntu just has enough to make me recommend it.

As I've said countless times I don't like Ubuntu that much; PCLOS2007 is my release of choice but I can't deny that Ubuntu is home to an awful lot of Windows migrants and that's for a reason. Be it marketing, press, hype, whatever.