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!

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