[dreamer_]

Gnome also works like that

[gkya]

Yes but it has to replace your desktop with a checkerboard of launchers, which might be a thing whose effect ranges from unnecessary but harmless to annoying and confusing, especially when it lags.

[brusch64]

In this case you can install https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/6/applications-menu/ to get something similar in gnome (but I have to admit that I've never used unity)