What People Are Saying About GNOME [Part 2]

A few days ago I shared the first one thousand comments about the GNOME desktop from the 2011 GNOME User Survey. Here's now the next set of one thousand comments concerning the state of GNOME in the eyes of end-users.

1001: Add features back in that have been taken away for simplicity. Add a "System" menu to the new gnome-session-fallback. Remove the "mac-like" approach at a single application for preferences. Bring back the toolbar in Nautilus.

Listen to your end users for once.

1002: The main thing I'd like is for Gnome to have the ability to save and restore workspace layouts. I have several tasks that I regularly do that involve opening a couple terminals, gedit, etc. and I like to have them arranged in a certain way. If Gnome could group all that together and save it to be restored later, that would make it much easier to do work.

Evolution needs some serious work, especially in terms of interface, though I'm very happy with how it has progressed recently in terms of integrating with Gmail, Google Calendar and the like.

I can't really think of a third thing to change at the moment.

With the development of Gnome 3, please don't neglect the "fallback mode" while focusing on Gnome Shell. It would be great if "fallback mode" got promoted to a "first class citizen" in terms of interface to complement Shell for those who don't want Shell.

Also, while some of the "web service" integration is nice, I hope Gnome doesn't go too far in terms of blurring the line between on and off line material. Probably a third of my time I'm working with either no Internet connection or it's unreliable. I need Gnome to continue to function completely without Internet. Also, don't go too far to the "always on" model. I've seen that IM is now integrated into the Shell and not having to start a separate application is considered a feature. But there are times when I'm working when I don't *want* to be online or reachable. Sometimes, it's good to have a separate program for different tasks.

1003: 1) I would add more UI customization options. (This statement is sarcastic since there are none.)
2) I would try to make use of the top panel so it does more than showing the date and time.
3) I would improve on fundamental GNOME applications, especially Evolution, Nautilus and Evince.

Please see my answer to Q 22 ;) Thanks!

1004: - Add a *lot* of missing features
- Make the configuration easily accessible (= not with gconf)
- Stop oversimplifying everything

Stop removing *essential* features.
GNOME 2.X was already quite short feature-wise, GNOME 3.X has made it way worse, even though I like the new Gnome shell.

1005: Bring back spatial mode to Nautilus (currently it's badly broken)

1006: default shortcuts should not intefer wit Emacs, such as control + space.

1007: Ability to search through window titles in addition to application names

Alt-tab could expand list of multiple windows after a specific delay

Middle-click on favorite icon opens window in current workspace rather than new workspace

It works well enough for me

1008: Better configuration. Gnome shell is not configurable.
You should not need to be an expert in CSS to chnage the icon's size in application view and in the dock bar. It should be easily configurable within gnome shell.

You should have a theme manager that is well designed and integrated in gnome shell.

I'm a UI designer. You can let the users configure things more easily.
Gnome tweak tool, is a poor man's configurator and a big regression in gnome.
If don't want user's to configure things, don't give them gnome tweak ui.
If you want to let them do, then give them a better tool, because this one is crap.

RedHat people are leading gnome under the hood and don't listen to external people. If you are not a redhat employe your voice don't count.
This redhat management is going to make poeple go away. If you are not a Redhat employee, your contrubutions are not taken in account, unless they match the views of rehat. This is really sad.

1009: Having to control+click an icon in the launchbar thing to open a new instance of a terminal or whatever is taking some getting used to, but I'm sure it'll be fine in the long run. The current default behavior makes more logical sense for the majority of users, even though I personally find it a bit annoying. ;-P

Also, it's not a change in GNOME, so much as a change in the practices of GPU manufacturers and their not releasing the specifications for their 3D-accelerated hardware. For now I managed to get GNOME 3 working with my nVidia card, but I'd sure like not to have to use non-free firmware/drivers. I'll consider this next time I purchase a computer of course, but it's still frustrating... I understand the necessity for direct rendering and all that though, so it's not really a complaint about the GNOME project itself.

A lot of people have been upset by the changes GNOME 3 has made from GNOME 2. And frankly, I get the feeling that the GNOME team has released a set of programs that exceed the expectations of what people had for GNOME in a very future-oriented way, and for the most part previous users were simply not ready for it. Whatever negative feedback you get, I want to express my support for the project and its new direction. I hope the amazing dev team doesn't take the negative feedback too seriously! Thanks again!

1010: Speed improvements
Window placement and arrangement
Pulseaudio

- it is still slow (app drawer mainly)
- add built-in shell theme switcher
- improve GNOME default apps
- add more css like attributes for theming purposes
- improve dash funcionality
- keyboard shortcuts

1011: 1. Extend the GNOME file selector to have similar functionality to its Windows equivalent (e.g. the able to rename/copy/move/delete files and folders within the selector). This might not be the UNIX way of doing things but it is certainly useful at times.

2. Tighten the UI so that it doesn't waste so much screen real-estate. The default fonts at size 10 are too large and coupled with the wasted space around GUI elements means less actual content can be shown, compared to a customized theme focused on reasonable gaps in elements.

3. Stop trying to reimagine the GUI. Even if GNOME is the most popular DE for Linux distros, it is still in the minority of overall usage. Trying to be different without any precedent or actual proven studies of the changes being beneficial is just going to further segment Linux as a niche operating system.

Do what works. Stop experimenting with new GUI paradigms. You're already in the minority - don't make it worse by pushing people away.

1012: panel apps (esp. system monitor, app shortcuts, search)
show all apps in Alt-Tab switcher, not groups
tabbed desktop, all apps shown, auto recently used app tab

Don't stop innovating.
Work to remove features rather than add them.
Make it fast, small, simple.

1013: * Custom widgets in the top bar (specifically system monitor.. I'm weird like that).

* Change the icon theme.

* Abbility to hide desktop icons (items in ~/Desktop) from showing up on the, well, desktop.

1014: More themes for Gnome3. Bring back Dust and Dust Sand. The default Gnome3 theme is eyebleadingly bright.

1015: Use Gnome Main Menu (Suse SLAB) by default, or at least the linuxmint menu.

Keep 2.32 working.

1016: 1. More configurability overall.
2. Better way to integrate with Compiz.
3. More work with the KDE team for standards and other things that would make switching between the two more seamless.

Great work guys! Although GNOME doesn't really fit my desktop paradigm any more, it looks nice and works wonderfully overall. Keep up the good work!

1017: [1] It won't run on some of my Nvidia graphics boxes, it needs better/different graphics support. Fall back mode is a bad joke.
[2] More/easier configuration

I really like Gnome3, it just doesn't like all my hardware, which is not state of the art.

1018: The only thing that I would change about the current version of Gnome would be to bring back the classic layout of gnome 2.x. For me, Gnome Shell is too restrictive to use on a desktop\laptop. I don't like not having desktop icons without using 3rd party extensions and I don't care for the amount of mouse gestures\clicks that it takes to complete tasks now. Shell seems as if it would be a better fit on a netbook or tablet where screen size is limited.

1019: Make a separate version for touchscreens I use a mouse and keyboard

1020: Consisten close shourt cut for alle applications

1021: 1. allow ALL the same customization options for gnome-panel from gnome2 in gnome3 fallback mode.

2. see 1

3. see 1

If gnome3 is intended for desktops, make it function like a desktop environment.

What you guy have is a TABLET interface.
Its a pain in the ass to use with a mouse.

Actually, I don't care anymore.
I'm glad you made G3 so unusable that I've tried alternatives.
XFCE is exactly what I want.

1022: 1. Cut out the crap of following the other OS desktops, be it Apple OS X or Windows.
2. Keeping the user interface simple and easy to use, especially for newcomers.
3. Keep options for more advanced users to make the changes they want on their advanced desktops, and not taking away a users ability to make changes to how they need it

Quit messing with the interface. Otherwise the only thing you do is drive GNOME users away, and scare the bejesus out of any newbie who was/is thinking about switching to a GNOME desktop.

1023: please keep the GUI like gnome 2.x, gnome 3 is a mesh

1024: XCDMP back to GDM, more focus on advanced users, no systems dependency

Please, listen to your users and remember that most of them aren't idiots

1025: 1. Reduce the gloss and glamour of GNOME 3 - make it function over form like LXDE (Perhaps not since we already have LXDE)
2. Either continue to support GNOME 2 or transfer the role of fallback to LXDE
3. Bring back the bar on the bottom for windows

Don't make users have to turn off the computer by pressing alt and clicking the menu. Simply make shutdown avalible.

I tried GNOME 3 for about 3 months but discovered LXDE as a viable alternative to the simple nature of GNOME 2. I find that switching between applications very annoying and frustrating but that is likely a product of growing up with GNOME 2 and Windows 98 :). I really miss the bottom bar. Whilst GNOME 3 might make a good tablet/smartphone experience, it is not practical for a user like me.

In the past I had used GNOME 2 in 2005 in Fedora Core and switched briefly to KDE. I don't like the direction of KDE and Unity either, emulating Mac OS X. I recently switched to LXDE in these past few months.

1026: If I could change three things in GNOME, I'd start by allowing for greater customization. I'd also make GNOME 3 more efficient - it takes more time and more clicks to do things, the interface is grating, and and it is a PITA. I'd make GNOME 3.X more like GNOME 2.X.

1027: Return to a 2.x interface, optimize for speed/size/function

1028: More customization (themes, UI)
Ability to modify GNOME Shell to make it more like GNOME 2.x
Ability to use the shell without compositing.

1029: easier customization, official Gnome repository for extensions

1030: More and easier changing of settings
Bring back plugins for the panels
Work with Ubuntu to merge first the vision and then the code base of Unity and Gnome Shell

I love the release cycle, but could you release more often?

1031: keep up the good work.i like their motto!

1032: 1. GNOME3 needs a method of open applications using only the mouse that requires much less mouse travel and clicks.

2. I would like to see more integration of the internet accounts feature in GNOME3.2. Signing into google should automatically set up accounts such as imap email, google talk, etc. It could be nice to see some other providers offered there too.

3. I would like to see improved new window placement with metacity in GNOME3x. For example, if I open several terminals they often appear on top of each other when there is other open screen space.

1033: - More configuration options for those who know what a computer is
- More (timely) information for developers: what in the world is gobject introspection, why must we switch to it, how much effort is e.g. moving from pygtk to gobject introspection and can I *please* see an example of what the code changes look like (there seemed to be zero information on this even on the *official* page for the bindings (until recently), except for the lavishly repeated message that gobject introspection is super-duper and we must switch to it --- this was *very* aggravating and not enticing to actually switch). It appears that the available information on the official page for gobject introspection has been improved recently, though... time to re-read.
- Perhaps an easy (or automatic) way for a user to map gvfs items back to the proper fs, so that contents are available to non-gnome applications

- Assuming the user is dumb is fine, as long as it does not take away features from people who know how to use them. This could be achieved by hiding features by default, to be activated by those capable of finding a configuration menu, instead of just dropping them entirely.
- In general gnome is a very nice smooth (UI wise) system, but a power user likes to have smooth interfaces too, so please don't turn it into a "one size fits all", no-options and no-powerful-operations UI.
- Thank you for your efforts. They are greatly appreciated!

1034: I tried really hard to think of something... No dice, sorry.

1035: 1. more user configurable options
2. less "gloss" more "matt"
3. fewer dependent libraries

Gnome3 is for the teenys & their iPads. Real people doing real work will be more like me I think - leaving for more productive pastures. Not angry (it's your choice after all) - just bitterly dissappointed at the number of users you have crippled just to "look cool".

Bye!!!!

1036: Design for desktop as well as Notebooks/Tablets.
More configurability.

The defaults are easy, once you want to change other settings you have to use gconf or text files.
In other words it's either the kiddie pool or the shark infested pool, there is no middle ground.

1037: 1) Fewer Bugs
2) Higher Performance
3) Native Effects (compiz without the performance impact)

Honestly, more stability and fewer new features would be great.

1038: 1. Nautilus should implement PolicyKit so that you can work with root files graphically as you can on Windows.

2. Remove the bottom floating panel containing trayed icons and have trayed icons at the top bar, organized under an icon like on Windows 7. You click the icon and a black bubble lists the trayed icons.

3. Improve the fade effect when scrolling. Currently the fade is abruptly turned on when scrolling. It should be smooth.

My suggestions are listed above.

1039: - revert silly interface of Gnome 3

- revert silly interface of Gnome 3.

- AWESOME work over the years to produce gnome 2. congrats for that. What changed since then that made you guys produce gnome 3?

1040: go back to GNOME 2. that is all.

number 22.

1041: Fix gpointing-device-settings

1042: Better dual monitor support. A blank panel shows across the top of the second monitor. Smplayer running full screen on the secondary, makes the panel on the primary disappear. Changing virtual desktops changes only apps on the primary monitor.

Improve multi monitor support please.

1043: More configuration options.

I want a task list extension.

1044: More configuration, less closed...

1045: file configuration
more applets
more ligh

flecible and make it more configurable settings for files (openbox), make a competition type gnome applets and better integrate

1046: Name
Better Uesr Interface
Integration with Web

More active development
Need different flavors of file manager - Apart from nautilus
More native apps for Gnome, with awesome quality
We need a full ecosystem
Integration with Web and cloud

1047: Re GNOME 3, bring back GUI for configuration options, rather than having a very simplified control panel. (I would recommend, having a 'advanced' option in configuration giving you more control if you need it). While I used to dealing with dconf-editor, it would be nice to not have it.

Better ability to configure GDM from within your login session.

Try to work better with other DE's (KDE, LXDE) to bring in a common configuration layer, especially when dealing with QT and GTK apps. While I understand the differences involved (and why), some common underlying configuration infrastructure would be nice.

Please, please continue to work with other OSes, and not force systemd as a hard requirement. While Linux is the major platform, there are the BSDs, Solaris (which is Sun was heaviliy involved in GNOME, please don't forget that), and smaller OSes all that utilise GTK+...

1048: Make it easily & fully customizable

Customer orientation - listen to your users.

1049: Allow more of a barebones option to gnome.
Reduce the amount of built in helper functionality.
Provide a more seamless co-existence for old gnome, current gnome and kde applications.

You should eat more tofu.

1050: more settings, its difficult to customize as i want (KDE is much better in that)
better integration of non gnome applications to panels

1051: 1. Bring back all removed settings
2. Educate GNOME developers to listen to users.
3. See above

Sure I do. You continue to ruin one of the best DEs.
Few days ago I used a live disk with Gnome2 to troubleshoot a friend's system. It really brought tears to my eyes, to see such great DE to turn into what it is today.

And about questions #2 and #10, you must be kidding to ask this.
You really think we are such idiots?

1052: 1. Not a fan of the new overlay, i think it's called unity? I hate having to move the mouse to the corner of the screen.
2. Too heavy!
3. Too many dependencies.

Not really. I'm using e17 for most things now.

1053: Make Evolution more stable and user friendly

Good job, keep going!

1054: - introduce more Settings to customize the user experience,
- a real taskbar, so that working with several non-maximized and fullscreen windows does not end in a mess
- easier theme customization

always sacrificing flexibility for ease-of-use is not the right way! there should be a balance, which is lacking in the current GNOME, but was there in 2.x

1055: Add more builtin apps:
* Speech recognition
* Screencasting (apparently Gnome Shell has this though :) )
* Unify Unity and Gnome Shell

Respond to allegations. Keep up the good work.

1056: I would make more settings up front, more available customization, and work out more bugs.

yes, i do realize it is not your (Gnome team's) fault, but please do anything u can to get gnome shell to work with ati. i understand you may not be able to do much, but if anything push for AMD to do their work and do it well. otherwise, i love gnome shell and hope for great improvements in its evolution :D

1057: more configuration options and easier configuration access

listen to your users

1058: 1.) Provision for more user customization.
2.) More efficient desktop integration, i.e. fewer mouse movements.
3.) Smaller or adjustable icon sizes.
4.) More visible notification messages regarding updates and other background processes.

Keep plugging...the answer lies somewhere between the 2.x and 3.x designs in order to keep the masses happy!!!

1059: -text editor
-mail application
-Better libreOffice integration

keep on rocking

1060: better panel (like AWN lucido), better themes, better configuration tools

keep good work

1061: - I prefer have an access to the desktop background where I usually let my current files. I don't remember the name of a file, I remember its position. I need a quick access to the tree folders.
- I don't need the appmenu, I have enougth menu in an application window. It's useless for me.
- mounting disks during startup by default. I don't want to change the fstab file to access to my files.

For now "Unity" works fine for me, It suits me well, because he keeps a quick access to the folders with the desktop background and keep also a quick access to applications with the dock. I will continue to follow the evolution of Gnome Shell, I hope I could return to my first love soon.
Kind regards

1062: 1. Implement proper tiling
2. ...
3. ...

1063: Change default configuration for multi-screen setups (no sticky windows on secondary screen)

1064: 1. I hate too large icons - I've got very good sight, so I don't need them
2. I like simple, yet powerful interfaces - Xfce is making a good job of doing everything I want, like gnome 2.x did. gnome 3 is in my opinion leap backwards.
3. Instead of one-fits-all model, allow users to configure as much as possible (of course in layers of configuration, to make sure that beginners won't get scarred) in regards to everything from looks down to works.

Please, bring back the old interface, Gnome Shell is killing my joy of gnome (unity is worse). And don't treat users like morons - allow more config options, because currently it's either too little in interface too much in hardcore gconf or nothing at all.

1065: Gnome itself is very good in its minimalism but gnome applications need more options

1066: Remove Unity support. (j/k but crapity is a joke, first thing i always do on fresh installs is to change gnome to default)

You did an overall great job, at first i was very skeptical about that overhaul but it works like a charm after getting used to it.
What you could probably do is a quickstart tutorial when a user logs in for the first time. Like explaining the lack of the minimize button (could never have imagined living without it) or some simple shortcuts.
Just keep doing it YOUR way! i switched from KDE cuz of your minimalistic style! GNOME 3 is exactly what i always wanted but didnt know it back then :D
Greets from Switzerland
- Sheepherd

1067: 1. In the shell overlay, it's hard to switch between applications that "look the same." For example, a page in my browser with a lot of text doesn't look very different from a LibreOffice or gedit document with a lot of text. Switching between multiple web browsers is also challenging. Perhaps showing application icons on the windows, or reducing spacing between windows to make the windows appear larger would fix this.

2. Better integration of chat with the shell. Specifically, some way to see a contact list (without opening Empathy) in the shell would be nice.

3. Keyboard navigation of the windows in the shell overlay would be nice. Perhaps also a way to filter the open windows by text?

Keep going with the shell, it's great! I used to use XMonad, and the main thing I liked about it was its ability to automatically segregate different types of applications into different workspaces. For example, I had a workspace for reading documents where apps like evince would open automatically, one for IM where chat windows would open automatically, one for web browsing where browser windows would open automatically, and occasionally I'd mix stuff together on other workspaces. This served two purposes. First, keeping stuff uncluttered. Second, it was a rudimentary system for allowing me to automatically put something on the "back burner" for me to look at later. For example, if I was reading a PDF or a chat window, I could click on a web link and have that open on another workspace in a way that didn't disturb me -- similarly for opening files while web browsing, etc. I use workspaces less frequently in the shell, because the shell already has a measure of forced segregation -- IM windows are nicely persisted in the bottom-right notification area -- and the shell also opens windows in the background without stealing focus, allowing me to proceed uninterrupted with my current activity. So anyway, I wanted to say great job! I never thought that Gnome Shell could replace XMonad for me. One thing I do miss, however, is the auto-segregation of different activities into different workspaces. This seems like a hard problem, however.

1068: More friendly access and descriptions for advanced and very advanced options.

Include better/improve PDF reader(s) for Gnome -despite better and better support for PDFs, I'm still very often introduced to some bugs etc., aspecially regarding text and picture mixins (for exapmle sometimes pictures hides text behind them -highlighing/selecting by mouse dragging the text all around the picture "unhides" fot the time it is selected/highlighted).

1069: configurability, KDE3.5.10 was perfect

Even if I don't like gnome, you are still doing a great job, don't be let down :P

1070: unity, nautilus back

1071: * I haven't tried Gnome3 so I can't really comment on this - but I want to minimize applications - that's why it doesn't sound interesting for me

for Gnome2 :
* improving the Alt-F2 dialog (that it works like gnome-do)
* easier change of themes (that#s really a crappy point)

Someday I am going to try Gnome3 - we'll see how this works out

1072: Do not disable or hide flexibility from users
dbus and policykit obfuscate the debugging of problems, need more transparency
try to integrate harder with other desktops so I would need less gnome-specific utilities/applets/...

1073: More configuration options.

1074: 1. More configuration options
2. Something like KRunner for rapid access to apps
3. redo the API to not use stupid_function_names_like_this and instead use functionName for a not-so-nightmarish development experience

Stop trying to be a netbook/pad desktop for all platforms. Have alternative desktops for those cases instead. I don't want to use my desktop computer like a pad/smartphone - I want to use my desktop to quickly do what I need to do. IE alt+f2 to start an application, alt-tab with a no-fuss-only-icon interface to quickly switch between applications rather than: go to some "app-screen" and wade through tons of icons to select the one i want and alt-tab with some thumbnail of every running application.

Also stop being cocky like gnome is so perfect. I'm mostly talking about the whole rant about how gnome3 was not going to be like kde4. It might not have been so buggy, but clearly it's missing a ton of usable functions and configuration options. Anybody can understand that minimizing the functionality also minimizes the chance for bugs..

1075: 1. Performance improvement to make it faster and lighter.
2. A complete config center with good organization.
3. Support more interactive way like touching, gesture, voice and so on

Introduce more innovative technologies to make GNOME unique.

1076: More configuration options, gnome-shell extention repository, and better thunderbird integration.

Seriously, more configuration options.

1077: 1. better program to program integration.
2. improve generic program behaviour.
3. Take a look how Mac OSX does points 1 and 2.

try to build a complete product like the mac OSX interface

1078: 1.Make the top bar autohide.

1.I am missing the weather applet.
2.Before there was this background option where you input an xml file with setting and gnome was changing the desktop background in the predefined way.

1079: Thank You

1080: Maybe try to demonstrate the development better? For example, together with Ubuntu 11.10 they released this Ubuntu online tour feature (http://www.ubuntu.com/tour/) which is really nice. Maybe something similar could help?

1081: taskbar
notification area
minimize button

provide a FULL gnome2 experience at least as an option

1082: I really dislike the new gnome 3 which I find practically unusable, gnome developers should wakeup and don't burn bridges with their old users.

gnome 3.x sucks, gnome 2 forever

1083: 1) Listen to your users community
2) Improve collaboration with other projects (GNOME is affected by NIH), as well as distros
3) Revert most of the GNOME3 changes

Be humble. Listen to ALL users, not just some. GNOME spread itself mostly thanks to word by mouth: in order for this to be successful, everyone must like GNOME, everyone must feel that his opinion is highly taken into account.

1084: More simple configuration options are needed, compared to the VERY barebones approach that is currently running.

1085: for GNOME 3:

1) horizontal workspace arrangement (my screens are sitting next to each other, not on top)
2) more options! (hide them behind an "advanced button" if you want)
3) program shortcuts right under our hands - who wants to move the mouse to the upper left corner or press the super button every time just to have to move the mouse again...

1086: gnome-shell performance (search functionality!)
open gnome bugzilla to google indexing (seriously you guys)
bad attitude of gnome leaders and developers

See 22.

1087: My over all feel is that GNOME keep it to simple, this also goes for the default GNOME apps. This is the main reason why I use KDE.

Ktorrent
K3B

1088: Lower resource usage

Greater configuration of key mappings, including graphically swapping keys.

Make the activities search function (press winkey and start

Typing) entirely controllable by keyboard shortcuts.

1089: * Drop gnome 3 and get back to gnome 2.
* Gnome 2 should be available alongside to gnome 3 in distro repositories.

1090: I think you have mostly right idea with gnome 3, but implemenation is still lacking.

1091: permit personnalisation
add compiz like effects
dock would be always visible

1092: more customization in gnome 3

more customization in gnome 3

more customization in gnome 3

I do not want to use gnome 3 until we can not customize the system as much as under gnome 2

1093: * Accept other upstreams like Unity
* Accept not only Red Hat design, but contribute with the wider community
* Look closer to their bug reports, how many unreviewed patches!

1094: I want to minimaze windows, have a panel with background applications and have the application tree before all application, this is so slow. Oh yeah, if I want more than one console, don't force me to press right click and add new window.

Keep going, I like the new Gnome but don't be to radical

1095: 1. open window bar. You can't see open windows right now, so I keep alt-tabbing to see.
2. open an app more than once from the dash.
3. Speed. Compared to LXDE the performance is generally worse, especcially on somewhat older hardware.

see above

1096: a dock like Unity
global menu like Unity
more integration

1097: 1. gconf must die. Learns all the wrong lessons from the windows registry. We build highly customized gnome-based desktop images that run on around 10,000 desktops for a bank, and this is one of the greatest areas of pain.

2. gdm is not flexible enough. We have major issues trying to comply with business requirements to disable features, supply password expiry warnings, etc.

3. metacity is bad at everything: performance, brain-damaged window placement rules, configurability

I enjoyed the early prototypes of gnomeshell, and ran it for about 6 months about a year and a half ago. The current spin fails to deliver on the promise of the early vision I feel. Moving even further to a search based interface, particularly time-context searches (A virtual folder that contains all the documents accessed within the last 2 months and terms identifying a particular project). Much more work on the zeitgeist / activity journal way of viewing the world - integrated "Related Documents / Activities" in content centric applications that offer links to other documents that were commonly worked on together with this one ("What website was I referencing when I wrote this code?", "Where is the quick script I wrote to get the information that this person asked for in this email?")

1098: what i miss the most is the classification of the application as it was in gnome menu (alacarte).

That's very frustrating to search for an application you now is installed but your are looking for the wrong word or in the wrong language.

Re add that classification per subject in the application menu.

1099: 1. Press Acitivity to show favourite programs
2. Press alt to show up Shutdown
3. Add Thunderbird integration

1100: More configuration options.
Make it faster.
Ditch gnome 3 and go back to developing gnome 2.

I loved Gnome 2, but since 3 has come out, I find it near useless, I rely to a fast, reliable and high configurable desktop manager for my work and home machines, gnome 2 was this in most regards, gnome falls very short.