So, I think by now it's safe to say that the majority of linux users using the Gnome Desktop Environment have seen screenshots of Gnome 3. I actually took that a step further, and downloaded and set up Gnome Shell, which is their new panel and window manager in one. Visually, it is quite attractive. It's got more life than gnome 2, and doesn't sit so flat on the screen. The window switcher and application menu seems to have moved into one area called "Activities" which is accessible via where the old menu bar was in gnome 2, or via a press of the super key (windows logo key). Your most recent or favorite applications are displayed right in front of you, and you are only a few clicks away or a quick search away from anything else. Everything looked great. There was a slight hiccup when my mouse disappeared under the panel, but a quick alt-F2 restart solved this. (This restarts GDM, not your computer, FYI).

I stayed with this desktop for 20 minutes, and then switched back to Gnome 2. Why?

I am an avid fan of compiz, and on my computer (XPS m1530, 4 GB RAM, 2.2 GHz Core Duo, nVidia 8600M GT w/ 256 MB video ram) I wanted to take full advantage of things (plus windows that wiggle are just awesome.) Also, I am an avid fan of "The less mouse interaction the better." Therefore, my music player is xmms2, used through gnome-do. Guess what two applications ceased to function when I installed gnome shell? That's right, compiz and gnome-do.

Now, apparently compiz is being phased out, and a new product is coming in (starts with M). Gnome-do will probably hopefully eventually get fixed. The search bar in activities just wont have the same range of functionality as gnome-do, and I really would prefer not to have to download an audio player other than xmms2, or a player for it.

I guess my conclusions are that gnome 3 will look very nice, when it undergoes its final design (there are plenty of people besides me chatting about what they do and don't like about it.) I will defiantly look forward to it in Ubuntu 10.10, or 10.4 in September if an upgrade is made easily available. Defiantly check out at least screen shots, and if you have 20 minutes, check it out on your computer. Just install it from the repositories, and run gnome-shell --restart. Then, to get the mouse working with the panel, hit alt-F2 and type restart.

Have fun,

Bodom