For example, I find myself liking the activities overview more and more since it combines together functionalities that you'd have to access separately on other desktop environments, namely a keyboard based application launcher, windows scale (or exposé for the Mac crowd) and virtual desktop manager. It's problematic that each environment maxes out at 8-9 windows before it becomes unmanageable, but the philosophy seems to be new desktops on demand, which are quick to create (just drag a window to the blank desktop or middle click an application to launch it in a clean desktop)

And the new Alt+Tab behavior does have a silver lining in that it scales much better for large number of windows since it allows you to drill down much quicker to the window you're looking for: Alt+Tab until you reach the application, Alt+<above tab> to reach the specific window you want. Or Alt+Tab, then use the mouse to highlight the application and then the specific window.

Another little know functionality is that the shell comes with a screen recorder: Ctrl+Shift+Alt+R to start recording, again to stop, the video is saved as WebM on the root of your home dir.

It's far from perfect, some functions take way too many motions to execute, and I wish they allowed you to bind mouse shortcuts (it would be perfect to enter the overview), but the basis for what could become a pretty decent desktop environment are there.

I like it too, but the big things for me (after stability issues) are

1) the notification area feels not well done. I am constantly triggering it when I don't want to, and I find it is a pain to trigger when I do want it.

2) the search function in overlay mode is really choppy, which is funny because I would consider this a solved problem in gnome (with gnome-do)

I think its a definite improvement over gnome 2, but it probably needs another 2-3 years of dev time before things are as polished as what you would expect nowadays.

I mean seamless installation and control of desktop extensions from the browser? awesome!

2) reading of .desktop files is not well done. It has been like that for many years, just wasn't that noticeable in 2.x.

Whereas the app menus in Gnome 3, are really hard on my head. The icons, just don't really add anything for me, it feels cluttered.

http://mail.gnome.org/archives/usability/

I used to be involved with Gnome a long time ago (pre 2.14), and have lost touch since— so maybe the accessibility mailing list is now outdated and I'm looking in the wrong place — but I feel like there's a huge disconnect between the various teams, and that design decisions are taken by isolated groups of developers, with little regard for system coherency or good, consistent usability.

Linux-world developers are good at many, many things— but in my humble opinion, good usability and design are not amongst them.

That's putting it mildly. A split menu may be correct from some design point of view (e.g DRY principle) but from a usability point of view, it's recipe for frustration.

On a more general note, does no one else consider Mac-style "alt-tab switches apps" and "global menu" usability mistakes? (on grounds of being modal)

With both Unity and Gnome adopting these, I no longer have a compelling reason to switch from Mac back to Linux.

Which is a pity really, because Gnome 3 is one of the prettiest and most usable desktops I've seen: I love how the windows key gives you access to the dock, all windows, workspaces and search at the same time.

Even if you assume that the only thing Linux has to offer is graphical windowing environments; there are a lot of other enviornments besides gnome/unity...

Xfce, awesome, kde, xmonad, lxde, fvwm95(joke), etc....

https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/38/windows-alt-tab/

https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/97/coverflow-alt-tab/

Au contraire, I now consider gnome usable for the first time. The fact that apps didn't really exist but as a collection of individual windows drove me crazy.

Note that I'm not arguing against having an app concept or a "switch app" action. The problem is killing the "switch window" action.

Of course, so much more was gained, the point of no return has long been reached ;-) Now the question, to Gnome 3 or not to Gnome 3?

Am I going to freak out as a gnome-do + compiz + dual monitor (laptop + external) user, or, with time, one adjusts, and, like an arranged marriage, learns to love the other?

No, modal can be good.

> Windows are maximized by default

Thanks again for catering to tablet users at the cost of the rest of us! How many times do we need to remind these people that there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all user interface?

Gnome 2 + Compiz + Gnome-Do completely and utterly rocks, particularly with a dual monitor setup.

KDE was a bit of a mess last I checked. Some people are saying XFCE is maybe somewhat Gnome-2-ish?

I chose KDE but your requirements may vary. The cool part about linux is Live CDs/USB drives. It's not difficult to try out new things.

I've intentionally been sitting on the fence for over a year now. Once Fedora 14 goes EOL, going to have to make the move.

What I have now is a dream setup (gnome 2, gnome-do, compiz, emerald theme mamnager), so have been in no rush. Was hoping Gnome issues would get sorted out; i.e. they'd listen to the power users screaming bloody murder. Apparently not, or not entirely.

I'll take gnome 3 for a spin, it can't be thaaaat bad (I hope); if I'm appalled, check out XFCE, and then, if need be, KDE (KDE felt complex/clunky compared to Gnome 2 when I made the comparison a couple of years ago, maybe things have changed)

This might not be optimal for large displays and desktop computers, but if with Windows 8 the future of computers looks like [1], then GNOME might have made a very smart move with the shell.

1: http://liliputing.com/2011/12/samsung-series-7-slate-pc-revi...