Just over a week ago, I installed Fedora 15. After using Gnome 3 for two days, I decided that I’m better off using Gnome 2, KDE or XFCE.
With Gnome 3, I like the ability to type the name of the application I want to run instead of hunting for it in a menu. This is a feature I’ve enjoyed for the past five years with Windows Vista, so it’s refreshing to finally have it appear in Gnome.
With Gnome 3, however, I miss the following:
- A system monitor applet. When my system starts to feel slow, I pay attention to CPU and I/O wait overhead.
- Multi-monitor support when changing workspaces. When I move to a new workspace, Gnome 3 only moves one of my two screens to a new workspace. The other stays the same.
- Quick launch icons. I use them for Firefox, gVim, Eclipse, and other frequently used apps.
I expect that Gnome 3 will be improved rapidly, and Fedora 16’s Gnome 3 will more productive.
Update: There’s a list of ways to tweak Gnome shell to make it almost bearable: http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=263006. In particular, by installing and using “gnome-tweak-tool”.