14.04 is the worst upgrade and live install I have found in Years

[crazybear]

I've seen articles that suggest methods to upgrade from 12.04 to 14.04 directly, but other guides I've read claim you really should upgrade one step at a time: from 12.04 through 12.10, 13.04, and 13.10 before upgrading to 14.04. I recall upgrading from 11.04 to 12.04 via 11.10 two years ago, but upgrading step-by-step four times is no fun. This time I just installed the 14.04 alpha back in January and let it update itself along the way.

Isn't the usual solution to run "update-manager -d" or "do-release-upgrade -d" depending on the flavor. For instance, my KDE installation doesn't have update-manager, but it does have do-release-upgrade. Running the graphical updater in Muon just runs the command line program

sudo do-release-upgrade -d -m desktop -f kde

This doesn't address all the issues brought up...such as going through sequential upgrades [a LOT of work!]. I have tried several times a direct upgrade from 12.04 to 14.04 and every time get a disk that won't boot no matter what. I don't know why. I used a slightly different command line text....but doubt that is the problem...but anything could be. Its wonderful to hear that some have no problems updating. I have never been successful with an upgrade....ummm....maybe once...long ago. it seems the more complex one's system, the more likely an upgrade is likely to fail...but my personal and anecdotal observation...and I have a complex system.

I'd gladly do a clean install IF I had a good idea of what and what not to try to move back into the new install to get back to something close to what I now have.....which is years of work and I hate to start over and spend more years of work to get 'back' to what I now have.

[fireflower]

To address OP's claim, I will say that I was there for the Ubuntu "upgrade" that switched the DE from Gnome 2 to Unity. Now that was a bloodbath. This is a just a setback. I understand that some people do not love computers; they love what computers do for them. When the going gets tough, they get dramatic. I find that curious, because when the going gets tough, they also ask help from people quite unlike themselves. People who genuinely love computers have the temperament to solve problems dispassionately rather than get histrionic about them. In this way love for computers is like love for another human being, but that is another story.

proprietary video drivers will cause smoking holes

I can confirm that using any proprietary video drivers with 14.04.1 LTS will cause a crash and may cause a computer to fail to boot. Data points include clean installs of stock Ubuntu, Ubuntu Gnome, and Linux Mint (MATE DE), all variants of 14.04.1 LTS. Md5sum was checked on all isos prior to install. Computer ran 12.04.5 LTS with no major problems prior to backup and clean install(s). Installs were pristine, in that unused disc space was also "paved over." It is an older computer with an integrated video solution that shares system RAM with video RAM; I wonder if that has anything to do with it? It's a question for better Ubuntu adepts than me.

I've seen articles that suggest methods to upgrade from 12.04 to 14.04 directly, but other guides I've read claim you really should upgrade one step at a time]

I recommend against both those options. So much can go wrong with the first one. And the second option strikes me as less computer science and more superstition. It's the sort of things vertebrates as simple as chickens will spontaneously invent when faced with randomness. My method of choice:

-Manually back-up all your data onto a stick.
-Download your ISO of choice.
-Check it for integrity.
-Use a second stick to make a boot stick.
-Boot, install, overwrite.
-Migrate your files from the backup stick to the clean install.
-Change the settings back to the way you prefer.