The GNOME Situation.

[bman212121]

I know this thread is months old but I finally decided to give Gnome 3 a go. It took some work to get all of the packages installed as they are still masked, but once I finally got that and Xorg to play nice I was able to get into gnome. I have to say that it's actually pretty nice. The hot corner works well for me and they have the same window placement options that Windows 7 has. (Bump top of screen for full screen, bump left/right side for half screen)

The bad news is that multiple monitor support isn't quite there yet. I wasn't able to setup the two monitors as independent workspaces so full screen isn't an option as it will stretch across both monitors. This also seems to break the bottom panel on my configuration so at first I didn't have a way to reopen windows that were minimized. Enter the best part about Gnome 3, gnome-shell-extensions. You can add the package to get some of the extensions, but there is also a website https://extensions.gnome.org/ which has hundreds of extensions to help customize the desktop the way you want it. It works incredibly well, just find the extension, turn it on, and it will automatically download and install it for you. I added Panel-docklet S and was able to configure a bottom panel that shows all of my open windows as well as have icons for my favorites. If you want to quickly turn on/off extensions you can use the gnome-tweak-tool.

Overall I'd say Gnome 3 is very usable once you add a couple of extensions and it's actually a bit nicer than 2 once it's customized. If anything it makes me more excited to give Windows 8 a try as there are a lot of similarities between them.

[Captain_Stormy]

It's been a while and I've kept playing with different DEs.

I still can't stand Gnome 3. It works fine for some people. But not for me.

MATE may get better over time, but I think that CINNAMON is a better solution long term. I may try that out sometime.

I've really come to get to like KDE though. It's a bit more complicated then I would like, but once I get it set up as I want it, I rather like it.

I'll probably try out CINNAMON at some point, but for now i'm digging KDE.

[tekkaman75]

It's been a while and I've kept playing with different DEs.

I still can't stand Gnome 3. It works fine for some people. But not for me.

MATE may get better over time, but I think that CINNAMON is a better solution long term. I may try that out sometime.

I've really come to get to like KDE though. It's a bit more complicated then I would like, but once I get it set up as I want it, I rather like it.

I'll probably try out CINNAMON at some point, but for now i'm digging KDE.

I haven't even used/played with Gnome3 myself...soo many bad feedback and comments on it. I have been using Gnome2 since Mint 6 Felicia (used KDE in Mint 5 Elyssa). I am now using Mint 12 Lisa 64 using Cinnamon. It is a nice alternative DE to Gnome2. Minor things in Cinnamon that kinda irk me, but I'm adapting to it. Like the tabs on the bar..not clickable. More like a H.U.D (heads up display), which I kinda find kewl. End up window switching with Alt +Tab..which most are used to in windows. Compiz doesn't seem to work for me in Cinnamon, but cinnamon has it's own effects..not as snazzy..but not as distracting as Compiz is I find. Cinnamon effects I find are nice middle ground. Ever since I installed cinnamon, I haven't looked back to Gnome2. I tried the KDE in Elyssa as mentioned above, didn't like it as much. I did like the KDE 3.5 when I was using Vector Linux tho...that was the only KDE distro that I liked..Vector I found to be very responsive. It's just nice to have other DE options in the Linux world..as compared to the single desktop environment that Windows users are stuck with.

[Captain_Stormy]

I've been playing with Mint 13 and the latest version of Cinnamon. It's not bad, but I don't like how there isn't much customization in it. That isn't really Cinnamon's fault, but the way that GTK 3 is.

When the next version of OpenSUSE releases I'll probably go back to it. I'm finding I prefer KDE these days. Which before Gnome 3 came out would have been impossible to consider.

[python134r]

WOW, I didn't know, I been living in the woods with the squirrels.........I have been trying to install Mint 13 cinnamon unsuccessfully too, to a empty raid0 volume.....

[geekkyyy]

i understand your feelings about gnomoe 3 version, and many share the same unhappy feelings...i went with kde, and using mageia....linux mint , went with xfce , something like that..i sort of tryed to stay away from gnome 3 this time around, maybe they will change it...someone stated that they are trying to make a smartphone os....