[cs702]

As a full-time Ubuntu user who loves Unity and thinks it has a shot at becoming a third major desktop platform over the next decade, I think this kind of soul-searching is great for the Gnome project.

I selfishly hope this leads to better and closer collaboration between Unity and Gnome developers -- and maybe a 'partnership of equals' between Red Hat and Canonical, each playing to their respective strengths, on the further development and improvement of the Free desktop.

[duaneb]

Unity felt like a large step backward from gnome 2, adding virtually no functionality and removing most customization. It's the ez-bake oven of window mangers. A toy.

[velodrome]

Ubuntu/Gnome simplified the interface without giving the power users a way to go back. They should have made sure the fallback/classic modes were just as robust as the old to ease transition.

Developer mindshare is scattered due to the radical interface change. These developers want the older interface and were left something that was not in a very usable for most power users. Naturally, they moved to desktop environments that resemble the older interface (LXDE,XFCE,GNOME2) or started new projects (MATE,Cinnamon).

I find myself in a nomansland. I am constantly changing my DE because of all this bs. They bet the farm. All I want is stable and familiar Gnome2 DE! What a serious waste of time.

[cs702]

velodrome: FWIW, the transition from Gnome 2.x to Unity was neither quick nor easy for me, as I'd been a full-time Gnome user for years prior to the switch.

However, I find that I'm more productive now, with Unity, than I ever was with Gnome. In no particular order, I love how Unity (1) gets out of my way (I've set it to hide); (2) maximizes my usable screen real estate; (3) allows me to use complex apps like GIMP and Inkscape without having to remember their menu structures (!); and (4) lets me to do everything (including window placement) very quickly with the keyboard.[1]

Yes, Unity is different, but IMO it's also much better. Give it a six-month try!

--

[1] Here's a comprehensive list of shortcuts: http://askubuntu.com/questions/28086/what-are-unitys-keyboar...

[velodrome]

I was on gnome classic for a couple of months. I am trying unity for the next few weeks. I think the major issue for me is:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/unity/+bug/1027949

Basically, the unity bar is crowded due to apps on other workspaces. Also, switching between windows of the same app is slower (I think I can deal with this issue though).

Performance-wise, gnome3 is snappier than unity (compiz kind of sucks).

[cs702]

velodrome:

You can make the Unity launcher (i.e., the sidebar) less crowded. Just run "Appearance" (<Super><A>, "appea", <Enter>) and change Launcher Icon Size to 32. I had to do this myself for the same reason.

You can also switch quickly between all windows of the currently focused app -- just tap <Alt><`>. (The <`> key is right above the <Tab> key on US keyboards.)

Also, note that the little triangular pointers on the launcher are different for applications running in the current workspace versus those running in other workspaces.