26 Oct 2011

GNOME3 vs Unity on Ubuntu 11.10: my score is 6 - 9

So, Ubuntu 11.10 is here and GNOME2 is gone...
Even if you had an option to run GNOME2 in previous release of Ubuntu 11.04, there is no more this option in 11.10. It is only shipped with Unity interface.
Does it mean GNOME is fully gone? No, it is still here... But that's not GNOME2. That is GNOME3, updated version which follows (or creates?) new wave of user interfaces.
I have seen only one operating system with GNOME3 so far: it was Fedora 15.
Let's have a look at Ubuntu 11.10 with GNOME3 interface and check whether it is better than Unity.
It actually does not take long to install GNOME3 on Ubuntu 11.10. Lots of people have already wrote how-to for this installation. They use different methods. Let me tell you which one I used. There are only 4 easy steps:

  1. Start Ubuntu Software Centre
  2. Type GNOME in search string
  3. Install the application shown first in the list
  4. Reboot

And enjoy!

Installation itself is almost background process, except for single question about login manager. You have an option to choose between GNOME's standard GDM and Ubuntu 11.10's standard LightDM. My choice was for the LightDM.
So, my installation is over. It's time to reboot!



Of course, Ubuntu 11.10 did not load into GNOME3 just because I had installed it. In order to get GNOME3 loaded, I had to select it at login window.
Cogwheel in the top-right corner next to username is a switching tool. There are some other options available, for those with non-supported hardware.
If you don't have username and password entry screen, then you probably use automatic logon. You need to disable it before switching to GNOME3 in Ubuntu 11.10. The method is similar, but not the same as in Ubuntu 11.04. Actual switch for autologon now in User Accounts part of System Settings panel.
So, I am not in Ubuntu 11.10 with GNOME3 desktop environment.
Let's start with items which make GNOME3 better than Unity.


  1. Subjectively GNOME3 works faster than Unity from first impression. It is more responsive and I'd like to say better organised. It's easier for me to find things I want. But, of course, this is far not the same as "old school" desktop environments (Windows, KDE, GNOME2, XFCE). But GNOME3 is still pretty high on system load, as you can see from screenshot below. But still, +1 to GNOME3.
  2. Nice difference from Unity is in application switcher via Alt-Tab buttons. This feature shows all available windows for applications if you have several instances of same application running. You don't need to press arrow, like in Unity. +1 to GNOME3.
  3. I was pretty happy that GNOME3 added more wallpapers to list of available in my Ubuntu 11.10. I would not say this is advantage of GNOME3, but rather that Unity and GNOME3 together give you better choice than each of them separately. Points go to both contestants. +1 to GNOME3.  +1 to Unity.
  4. Another nice addition was the new theme for window decorations: Adwaita. I actually like this there, and it's my choice from the list of available now. Definitely, +1 to GNOME3.

And now let's count things in GNOME3 which are not so polished.

  1. If you remember, I moaned in my review of Ubuntu 11.10 with Unity that Skype's and Qutim's icons on the top panel are useless - you can't call applications from here. Situation with GNOME3 is even worse. Neither of those applications is shown on the panel by default. Instead, you get notification panel at the bottom. It shows some notifications: new e-mail in GMail when open in Chromium (not always work but that's an interesting idea!), Skype, Qutim, Update manager. But I would not say that this panel is absolutely useful.  When new notification appears (for example, message comes in Skype or Qutim), there is short balloon at the bottom of the screen. Then any notification disappears in hidden panel. You can only check notifications if you move mouse to bottom-right area. It's more than likely - you'll miss something important. Why where these notifications placed in this strange disappearing panel at the bottom, but not on the permanently visible panel at the top? +1 to Unity.
  2. Another glitch which annoyed me is about adding application to the panel. This is "Add favourite" item in right-click menu. The issue is that balloon with application name covers part of right-click menu on favourites bar - exactly the "Add favourites" item. +1 to Unity.
  3. GNOME3 has same issue with volume control, as Unity on Ubuntu 11.10. This is more likely to be issue with OS, not DE. And to be absolutely honest this item has never perfectly worked in Linux. Draw here: +1 to Unity and +1 to GNOME3.
  4. When I described Chrome (-ium) in Unity, I praised its matching design for interface elements. Unfortunately, the elements remain the same in GNOME3. Therefore, you have mismatch between graphical parts of your desktop. Neither GTK+ nor (obviously) Chrome-classic theme looks like GNOME3. +1 to Unity.
  5. Unfortunately, nothing has been done (and I doubt if it is in any plan) to minimize "mouse walks" for desktop switch. There are still long cursor walks required to switch between workspaces. You first need to go to the top left corner and call Activities, then all the way to the right to switch desktop. Unity has shorter walk since workspace manager is in the same left-side panel. +1 to Unity.
  6. Again, I found no easy was to see number of unread messages in window title of browser. Especially if it works as separate application. Same is for Unity, so draw here: +1 to Unity and +1 to GNOME3.
  7. Ubuntu 11.10 with GNOME3 -
    icons are gone from the panel
    From time to time I encountered issues with icons, either in the Activities search tool, or even the panel. They just didn't appear. Never saw this in Unity, so +1 to Unity.
  8. Stability wise, I encountered several crashes trying to copy files from my mounted network drive to USB-attached Android phone. System simply went to black screen with some text on it. Luckily, I was able to return to graphical interface by pressing Ctrl-Alt-Backspace and re-logging in. But that was still an issue because I could not complete my task. For fairness, same operation stuck in Unity's Nautilus at all, but at least did not required X-server restart. +1 to Unity.
  9. And the last thing which I would like to mention, is long time to recover WiFi after hibernating. I left my laptop with closed lid for some time. System hibernated. After opening laptop back, I could not access my network for about a minute. I am not sure whether this is GNOME3 or Ubuntu 11.10 issue, but in either case I don't have this problem in Mageia 1 KDE. It restores back network connection in seconds. I have not checked this in Unity, so won't give any points here.
Little math exercise, and you can see that total result is 6-9 for Unity.
This is only those which I encountered during few days using Ubuntu 11.10 switching between GNOME3 and Unity interfaces. There are much more which you can add. Please do in comments.

As you can see from here, GNOME3 is not ideal solution for Ubuntu 11.10 yet. Is Unity better? I'd say that both have some benefits and pitfalls, but probably Unity is better in some points. That's absolutely up to you to decide which one you like more.
What about myself? I migrate back from both of those to...
Wait, that will be in the next post... Stay connected!

Do you want to learn more about Linux? Books are usually considered as helpful source of information.
Otherwise, why not order a CD with your favourite distribution (Ubuntu or any other) via service Buy Linux CDs? You'll get a chance to try Linux yourself!

62 comments:

  1. I just installed GNOME3 yesterday, along with Fedora 15. Mostly because I didn't like the way Unity is organised. But I'm not so happy with GNOME3 either... a lot of bugs and I'm not really sure what developers wanted to accomplish?! I think that they should ASAP give users the opportunity and a way to organise their desktop in the way the desktop is useful for them. Right now, it's just not very useful to have so much hidden stuff on the desktop!

    ReplyDelete
  2. The first few times I tried Unity, I thought it was horrible.
    Over the past few days I actually started to like it. It ran well and everything seemed to work.

    I gave gnome 3/shell a shot and did find it fast, however I had too many crashes with it. I found it too unstable overall.

    What bothers me most with Unity, is the lack of customization (or ease of doing so).

    I know some would like to go back to gnome 2x, however I recently tried Xubuntu and fell absolutely in love with Xfce. Much better IMO then gnome 2x.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hmm, seems like a bad idea to migrate just yet. I think I will try Lubuntu 10.10 or some other lightweight distribution. I have an asus 1215b, which is quite powerful compared to it's size, but not quite powerfull enough for ubuntu 10.04 with all bells and whistles turned on.

    I'm anxious to hear which distribution you went back to!

    And if you guys have any suggestions about which lightweight distribution I should choose, please do drop a word =)

    A good read, thanks! Now at least ruled out two options

    ReplyDelete
  4. @Anonymous:
    I bet this is quite usual for many applications. Wait until at least SP3 to get Win2K, WinXP workable... Same about KDE4 which is not the best until 4.5 at least...
    Let's leave guys for now... We can criticise them, but we cannot do their work.

    ReplyDelete
  5. @Ryan:
    I have tried several XFCE distributions, and few of them even in installed version: Mint XFCE and Salix XFCE. They don't live long for whatever reason.
    My soul is with KDE. My current default system is Mageia 1 KDE. It was Kubuntu before.
    Do you reckon I should give Xubuntu a go?

    ReplyDelete
  6. @Emil.BB:
    Wait until next post and you'll know what I am going to try to install next. But that's not the "lightweight".
    Hope you've subscribed ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Please take this as a kind correction - you might do well to read up on articles (as a part of speech http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_articles).

    Also a couple of times I noticed you used the wrong past tense, eg, "What about myself? I migrate back from both of those to...". It should be "I migrated" as it's a completed action in the past.

    Your written English is still very good. Thanks for the review.

    ReplyDelete
  8. @web design wales:
    Thanks for comment!
    I have already written about articles. I try as good as I can, but this is still a problem for me.
    As for migrate - migrated. It's not completed action yet. That's why past indefinite is not correct here. It should be present.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Unfortunately, nothing has been done (and I doubt if it is in any plan) to minimize "mouse walks" for desktop switch. There are still long cursor walks required to switch between workspaces. You first need to go to the top left corner and call Activities, then all the way to the right to switch desktop. Unity has shorter walk since workspace manager is in the same left-side panel.

    You should add that keyboard shortcuts take care of this problem.

    ReplyDelete
  10. @Jonquil:
    Why would I need keyboard shortcut if I work with mouse? It's distraction from the on-screen processing.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I stopped reading review at the place you start moaning about lack of wallpapers..

    ReplyDelete
  12. I am not a mouse person - I am a keyboard person. That being said, in gnome shell to switch between desktops it is merely Ctrl+Alt and then arrow up or down for desktop selection... :) And I wish people would lay off your Enlish. Good grief. Can they speak and write Russian, I wonder...??? :-o

    ReplyDelete
  13. As Ubuntu created Unity do you think they would spend the effort ensuring Gnome3 installs and works flawlessly on their systems? Maybe they don't sabotage it but I would guess you'd get a better G3 experience somewhere else

    ReplyDelete
  14. And in regards to the troll who thinks you don't have a right to express your opinion in regards to lack of wallpapers - then he doesn't have to read your blog. I myself have always thought the wallpapers in Ubuntu uninvolving and lacking, and for new users who can barely figure out how to use the OS, it would be nice to give them some pretty wallpapers, at least. If their desktops look nice, then new converts may be inclined to stick around... :) Some people like to have a nice desktop and interface... Lets face it, if it looks ugly and is also painful to use (as they get used to it), then they might just go back to Windows... :(

    ReplyDelete
  15. Comparing these two in Ubuntu is a bit unfair. It might be expected that Ubuntu team puts a lot of effort into THEIR desktop.

    ReplyDelete
  16. From my experience while I liked some ideas of Gnome3, the performance was terribly low. On my desktop, Gnome3 acts slower than Unity on a netbook. And on a netbook, I had to wait for at least 2 minutes before every part of the interface was usable, and it still was bad.

    Gnome3 has got some advantages, but unlike you - I could not get it to work fast enough.

    ReplyDelete
  17. @DarkDuck
    Simple - Don't look at the keyboard when using it. Secondly, if you have all the stuff in one corner of your 24"+ screen it's faster to use mouse to point and click (gnome 2.x). More so if you don't have to memorize icons of which you choose from.
    Thirdly, computer mice usually have 1-10 buttons, keyboards have 100+. If you only know where 1/5 of the buttons are on the keyboard it's still faster than mouse, even without combinations.

    Gnome 3 and Unity are designed for touchscreens. They are huge steps backwards on the regular desktop. At least for now.

    ReplyDelete
  18. @Anonymous:
    >I stopped reading review at the place you start moaning about lack of wallpapers..
    Thanks for commenting. Next time I will write about wallpapers at the end, so you could better enjoy the article.

    ReplyDelete
  19. @MAS Geeks ERP AZ:
    As usual, thanks for support. Wallpapers are not that important for geeks, but they are for beginners. Desktop should draw your attention, not make you frown.

    Maybe I should start writing in two languages in parallel? Part of the post in Russian (good, correct Russian) and part in English? Will it make other people learn my native language? ;)

    ReplyDelete
  20. @Anonymous:
    Maybe G2 experience is better somewhere else, but you can't compare Unity and G3 on same basis anywhere else except for Ubuntu. At least, now.

    ReplyDelete
  21. @Anonymous said...
    >Gnome3 has got some advantages, but unlike you - I could not get it to work fast enough.

    Maybe that's another evidence of unpolished system - hardware dependency?

    ReplyDelete
  22. @Anonymous:
    I have laptop with classical combination: touchpad and 2 buttons. Screen is only 17(?) inches wide. Or maybe even 15, I don't remember.
    But anyway... moving cursor from left to right take more than one width of touchpad. And that is annoying.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Ha. Ubuntu. Innovating themselves to oblivion.

    People should wakeup and use a distro that doesn't attempt to enforce change on it's users. One that lets them choose their favourite DE and one that caters to all of them..

    Arch Linux for instance. The day a distro stops offering choices (the very thing that defines linux), is the day it stopped being a Linux distro. Don't use them.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous said...
    > Ha. Ubuntu. Innovating themselves to oblivion.

    I think it's rather sad. For both counts - Canonical and G3. They're supposed to make desktop experience better, not get blinded by tablets and screw our DEs.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Really, if you want a dock/panel, just use Cairo-Dock, it's the best one available on Linux.
    If you want a pretty desktop, add Compiz + Emerald.
    And if you want a light environment, use XFCE.
    Combining those 4 makes a fast, pretty and customizable desktop, whatever the distribution you are using.

    ReplyDelete
  26. @Anonymous:
    >The day a distro stops offering choices (the very thing that defines linux), is the day it stopped being a Linux distro. Don't use them.
    Let me disagree. There are good distros which don't offer choice. Pardus, CentOS, for example.
    Ubuntu gives you a choice: GNOME3 is not the only. There are KDE, LXDE, XFCE and that's not a comprehensive list.
    The fact that Unity is default face of Ubuntu does not stop it from being Linux distribution.
    Arch is not the only distribution to give you a choice. Old "veterans" have it: Debian, Slackware are available with different DEs.

    ReplyDelete
  27. @Anonymous:
    Even though I agree with you that G3 and Unity are not so good for desktops, let's not forget that only history is proper judge. Who knows what you will tell us if read these lines in 5-10 years... "Desktop? What desktop?"

    ReplyDelete
  28. @Anonymous:
    Good advice actually. Though, I have an issue with XFCE distros. They don't live on my laptop for long... I don't know why... Probably because they're not so shiny as my favourite KDE or even GNOME. I've tried Mint XFCE and Salix XFCE, but removed them both without intention to come back.

    ReplyDelete
  29. "Unfortunately, nothing has been done (and I doubt if it is in any plan) to minimize "mouse walks" for desktop switch"


    I usually use those two methods:
    1)move the mouse to the upper left corner, then go the right and use the mouse's scroll

    2)move the mouse to the upper left corner, then just click and drag up(or down)

    they are a lot faster than it is on Unity where you have to click more than once

    Anyway, on gnome2 it was frustrating for me the all workspace system.
    It always ended up that I wasn't using it because...I forgot it was there, even though I tried very hard to use it.
    On gnome3 it's right there and ready to use very easy

    ReplyDelete
  30. If you keep on insisting something it becomes reality, even it is false at first. In 11.10 I had the option to switch to Classic Desktop, so I totally avoided unity. In 11.10 I had to live with the Devil. Immediately I started panicking. I crashed it many times, I was so furious when I could not minimize applications by clicking their icon on launcher. The most annoying, the red selected button, which does nothing unless you switch tab to related app and click on empty space or hold alt+tab at that point. In frustation I un-installed global menu and some other unity stuffs. I installed gnome 3 and tweaked it to look just like gnome 2. Again this did not seem natural at all. How long can I live an outcast life. I had to give unity a second change. When I stayed it for 1 week, I actually got Unified. When working on an application, you focus on only that one. If you browse web nothing comes your way to distract you. If you feel you are lost Win button brings back all, music just a type away. In 11.04 I ignored eclipse (due to its memory usage) as long as I could, but with this work flow you cannot rely on opening many windows for programming, so I had to use eclipse once more (this is actually good, because eclipse is the right way to programming). Now when I use others computer, I happen to take mouse to left and wait for launcher to open (even on windows 7, haha..). Unity is not going to go away. Its better to tune up the work flow rather than to go for alternatives (in my opinion), and if possible direct unity (via launchpad participation) to support your work flow better (or even provide options for configuration). I can't say if they will provide more options to tweak unity, because eventually everyone will break unity and report that state, and provide a bad reputation of Linux Desktop once more. Even if people happen to like Gnome 2 for time being (because it seems more windows 95 than unity), I know everyone hated Gnome 2 (because of its bad look). When I showed Gnome 2 to my friends, they said is this Linux? (in a disgusting way). I know this new version is better than gnome 2, but in Linux world no software seems to get stable, which really hurts its user.

    ReplyDelete
  31. @Peter Perry Here is a very good suggestion for those who dislike Unity & for Ubuntu users who liked the 'good old' Ubuntu: Install Cairo / AWN Dock

    Ubuntu 11.10 + Cairo / AWN Dock = Awesome!

    This way you have the eye candy of Unity & Cairo Dock. I find Cairo Dock has some functionality & accessibility that has yet to come to Unity.

    ReplyDelete
  32. @Fabio Lo Brutto:
    Thanks for sharing the tip!

    ReplyDelete
  33. @Anonymous:
    Nice to hear you like Unity and found your way through it.
    Unfortunately, that is not the case for everyone.
    I still prefer "old-school" style.
    KDE was a choice for me from Day 1 of my Linux life. And it remains as such.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Will somebody make a real Desktop shell so I can go back to linux! Pleaseeeee :< Unity and Gnome 3 just @#@!!# sucks
    (((NO desktop OR panel app's, NO easy customization, NO on screen icons showing you what applications are running)))
    """I am sorry I love open source and I love linux but I can't use Gnome 3 and I don't like KDE or XFCE. I think Unity and Gnome 3 will do more harm to Linux then Microsoft or Apple.... I am NOT A TROLL I just hate this backward desktop shells...............................................

    ReplyDelete
  35. Another solution from Jo-Erlend Schinstad: “However, if you just want a window switcher at the bottom of the screen, then you can easily get that with Unity. We have several panels to choose from, like xfce4-panel, which you can install by following this link: http://apt.ubuntu.com/p/xfce4-panel. When it is installed, you can run it by pressing alt+f2 and typing xfce4-panel. If you want to keep using it, then you’ll want to add that command to your startup applications. If you want to see a screenshot, here you go:http://ubuntuone.com/0X1JuF6HRTwEb5U1JyIk1D
    . As you can see, it’s perfectly possible and easy to have both.”

    ReplyDelete
  36. @go go:
    Try KDE, XFCE, LXDE. They still stick to "classical" approach to desktop building.

    ReplyDelete
  37. @Anonymous:
    Maybe a good idea...

    ReplyDelete
  38. LMAO... Nice response, DarkDuck.


    Re:
    @Anonymous:
    >I stopped reading review at the place you start moaning about lack of wallpapers..
    Thanks for commenting. Next time I will write about wallpapers at the end, so you could better enjoy the article.

    ReplyDelete
  39. number 4 7 and 8 are specific to ubuntu integration.
    If canonical had worked on Gnome3 instead of Unity the result would be the opposite.

    I also find your test on drawback 1 biased: You have youtube opened and system monitor shows only the overall CPU load, not the CPU load actually used by gnome3.
    I found Unity on Ubuntu to be much heavier than Gnome3 on Fedora. But this doesn't count either, of course.

    RPM is driving me nuts. I am too used to a debian system to switch as now. I will repeat your tests soon on Ubuntu on my hardware and will psot back.

    ReplyDelete
  40. @Bruno9779:
    I run Debian (obviously .deb) and Mageia (.rpm) in parallel on same machine. Don't see much difference, to be honest.
    Will wait for your another post.

    ReplyDelete
  41. I've rediscovered bash and vim. I use OSX for photoshop, but everything else is faster in the terminal. DOS still sucks (the cmd.exe in Windows 7 says it's Windows 6 if you query it's version) - M$ succeed in reselling the same old code year after year. Come-on Canonical, give us something worth telling our friends about again.

    ReplyDelete
  42. I have a 64bit machine, and over the years I have got used to certain workarounds and finding help over the net.
    Since I have switched to an rpm based distro I keep getting stuck.
    Probably I am just being impatient and maybe I still classify as a Linux noob after several years using it, thing is, when I have an issue I seem to find only .deb solutions for it.
    I got used to the ia32 way of doing things and I miss it on Fedora.
    Also, I am a big fun on the HIB and some games do not run without the proper 32-64 bit workaround. Again, I fing these only for debian distros.

    ReplyDelete
  43. I forgot, I miss synaptic soooo much.

    I have been pointed to the last Linux Mint Release featuring Gnome-shell.
    I am downloading it while I write this post

    ReplyDelete
  44. @Bruno9779:
    Linux Mint looks like a decent system. Most people liked it. I only heard/read couple of bad reviews, and one of them being Deidomedo's.

    ReplyDelete
  45. Well, that review is more about Gnome3/shell than about Mint. In fact at the end Deidomedo says that he hopes MATE becomes the default DE from Mint 13.
    I am overall happy with Mint. I don't experience any of the flaws described there on my 3Xphenom II Desktop. Maybe there is something wrong with the power policy on laptops.
    The integration and stability of Gnome-shell on Mint is better than on Fedora.
    I don't own a printer at the moment, but when I did, I didn't expect Cups to take care of it. In my case Hplips did the trick.

    Overall I am quite happy. I will need to change those hideous green icons, but Mint is here to stay for now.

    ReplyDelete
  46. @Bruno9779:
    Consider writing your own notes in here as guest post?

    ReplyDelete
  47. It sounds good. Would you like a review of Mint 12 "Lisa" for a start? I could try and follow your distro review layout and see what comes of it.

    ReplyDelete
  48. @Bruno9779:
    There's plenty of distro reviews on this blog. Just try few links here and there, you'll find them.
    Anyway, you convinced me to do Lisa's review. I honestly wanted to stay away from it, but now you got me. 8-)
    Let's do it in parallel. E-mail me your version when it's ready. Address is in About me page.

    ReplyDelete
  49. I like gnome3 as it is a great concept, and at first i was using it instead of unity... currently however, unity is better for me.
    Thanks to myUnity I could setup the dock so that it is always on and a little bit smaller too, providing an ever-present yet quite minimal dock. I don't use lenses as i prefer the speed of the GREAT synapse launcher. this way, i'm Zen.

    ReplyDelete
  50. @Alessandro Muraro:
    What is "myUnity"?

    ReplyDelete
  51. GNOME Shell pwns Unity based on one feature: Extensions.

    https://extensions.gnome.org/

    With GNOME Shell Extensions, most of the lost functionality of GNOME 2 can be easily added back into GNOME Shell.

    ReplyDelete
  52. @Anonymous:
    Thanks for the link!
    Although, it is still in Alpha, but project is very useful!

    ReplyDelete
  53. No mention of Gnome Shell Extensions? There is a bottom panel that is easily added which makes life allot easier but at the same time kind of renders the Activities panel useless.

    Same thing can be said for Unity and that previous comment about installing AWN or Cairo, If you install these then you shouldn't be using Unity as the Unity panel is no longer required once you have them. It makes better sense to install XFCE and then install AWN or Cairo. At least you aren't running a bogged down system then.

    ReplyDelete
  54. @Anonymous:
    >No mention of Gnome Shell Extensions?
    No, I worked with Unity and GNOME3 as they come out of the box.

    ReplyDelete
  55. I enjoyed your article and appreciated your input.

    I started out using Unity when I upgraded my system to 11.10. In the beginning, I had a serious desire to "fix" my distro and get Gnome 3 on there as fast as I could. However, from the experiences I have had, there is a part of me that wants Unity back.

    Don't get me wrong, I love the way that Gnome 3 looks and operates. I also enjoy the many extensions as well. However, and again this is from personal experiences, Gnome seems to crash over and over, where Unity does not. Perhaps it is my system, perhaps I tweak things too much, or maybe it is something else, but the more I use Gnome 3, the more I feel like going back to Unity.

    As far as the interface in general, either works for me. As I went through high school and college, I took many drafting/CAD courses. In taking those classes, I learned to always have your left hand on the keyboard and the right hand on the mouse. There were many shortcuts we learned using both together. Now that I have migrated to Ubuntu, for me, tapping the "super" button and then clicking the mouse is like second nature for me, because I have done it for so long that the gestures seem almost automatic. In doing this, my personal opinion is that neither is really faster, and if one is, I cannot tell which.

    My plan is to go back to Unity for a short time and see if I have troubles like those I am having with Gnome 3. If so, I may simply get rid of Gnome and save the few MBs of disk space.

    My suggestion to all of you is this: Try out different interfaces. If you find one that works for you, great! If not, keep looking.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. >My suggestion to all of you is this: Try out different interfaces. If you find one that works for you, great! If not, keep looking.
      Totally agree! There are so many options, you can always try the one which suits you the best! My choice is KDE, with some inclination into XFCE. Yours is Unity of GNOME. That is all fine.

      Delete
  56. sudo apt-get install gnome-shell
    wait for it
    log out
    choose Gnome-Classic in LightDM
    login and profit.

    If you like smaller panels you should consider removing the user menu from the top panel because it makes the panel 24 pixels which for me (on 1024x600 netbook) is HUGE. You can also use full set of the Compiz glitter without the restrictions Unity sets in using Compiz (I especially find the cube awesome).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry, would you elaborate the purpose of this exercise?

      Delete
  57. mmm.... I have used ubuntu 11.10 for sometime (About a couple of weeks) and I noticed a huge difference between gnome 2 and 3, I like both unity and gnome 3, but Ubuntu 10.10 does me everything more faster than 11.10. 11.10 is much slower in my machine for some apps like firefox and totem. music delays when apps start or dash opens. I hope 12.04 will more reliable than 11.10

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We'll see it very soon. Just over a month.

      Delete
  58. Perhaps the developer drunk much everyday when they were planning to develop Gnome 3 and Unity. Perhaps they don't know what they are doing.

    Crazy!!!

    c0nnect3d.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  59. Not sure if any others have posted about this issue, but I have used both Unity and Gnome3 though reight now I am prefering Gnome3. but i have run into an issue with Flash on sites like Youtube providing bad color issues. this of course can be fixed just by googling the issue, lots of fixes, but this issue does not appear or hasnt for me in unity.

    ReplyDelete