Desktop Wars ...

[Mad Penguin]

Ok, I've finally canned Gnome three, in favour of MATE, which is a fork of Gnome2.

Not sure how long I'll stick with it, but this far I'm expecting it to be quite a while, it's what Gnome3 classic / compatibility mode "should" look/work like.
http://mate-desktop.org/

Fast, clean, good-looking, stable, and available as an APT repo for Debian/Ubuntu users.

[BkS]

What made you switch in the first place MP?

I like Gnome 3, but on my 4+ laptop, and running full Ubuntu, performance is not what it once was compared to Gnome 2 in the Ubuntu Maverick Meerkat days.

I particularly blame Canonical and Unity. Lots of files I really don't need!!

[Mad Penguin]

It's so nice to be back on a "proper" desktop. I have a reasonably powerful PC, but even so Gnome3 is a PITA. Whereas it might be ok for "users" (although most users I know just won't use Gnome3) as a programmer, I want a desktop I can control and do stuff with, not one that tells me how I should be working.

I can customise, add to tool bar, add a toolbar, twin screens works properly, virtual desktops on twin screens works properly, I have a proper process switcher in the bottom toolbar (I have a bottom toolbar!) I have a virtual desktop switcher on the screen all the time, I can "see" what tools are running without having to mouse off the bottom right of the screen, I have menus I can go to when I want to run stuff, rather than trying to type in the name only to find that my VNC client is called "Remmina", which makes searching by name more interesting .. should I go on? 

To paraphrase Linus; Gnome3 sucks dead rats through a straw ... and don't even get me started on Unity ...

[BkS]

Unity is horrible. I'm finding Gnome 3 TOO heavy for my laptop, so I may give this MATE a go, although I'll probably just go back to good old LXDE.

[Mark Greaves (PCNetSpec)]

I'm lovin LXDE .. spread the love

[Mad Penguin]

Mmm, I did try LXDE .. didn't really do it for me in terms of quality / integration ...

[Mark Greaves (PCNetSpec)]

Integration yes .. but I'm yet to find anything I can't get to work, one way or another.

The slight lack of easy integration has only served to teach me a lot about the underlying stuff, and how to make it do what I want .. and I'm still amazed at how light/quick it is

I suppose it all boils down to what suits

[Mad Penguin]

Oh and another thing, Gnome3/Unity don't play well (read::work at all) with NO (nomachine) and for anyone who does any remote maintenance this is more than a minor annoyance (!) .. MATE works perfectly .. (!)