I don't like turning the difficulty slider up for a variety of reasons, but I do believe the default setting for difficulty is just not very much fun. For myself, I opted to use the mods "Deadly Dragons" and "Deadly Monsters". This way I can adjust the settings for health, armor class, damage done, and magic resistance using sliders for nearly every critter in the game.
What I really don't like is taking the trouble to build up smithing for instance, putting perk points in it so that I can make (for instance) Elven armor and weapons, only to discover that I won't be able to come up with any quicksilver to make them until Elven weapons are basically not much more useful than an iron dagger. Personally, I think the weapons system really needs revamping. Arguably, the best-looking sword in the game is the iron greatsword... and it's also the least useful. Its only saving grace that you can get one at the start of the game and use it all the way through. Or you COULD use it all the way through, if it wasn't eventually like using a toothpick to kill a mammoth, eh? Easier to kill a Bull Netch with a fork, eh Morrowind fans?