
Sceptical
Hmmm. Like BlueGreen, I appreciate that there is more to GNOME than just the user interface, but *I like the fact that the interface doesn't change*.
Though I am a Linux advocate, I am not shy about how much I like XP, which is a lot. It made small but significant improvements on NT 4, 2000 and 98. Vista on the other hand, made the turbofail of a very large interface change. I'm not talking about the fancy 3doodahs, which I can do with GNOME 2, but basic layouts, the Start Menu and so on.
I am perfectly happy with GNOME 2. Granted, it could do with pushing its APIs a bit more, to encourage greater levels of interaction with non-GNOME apps, but it works the way I want - no surprises. I used Vista for about a year before switching back to XP and throughout that whole time, I was still being frustrated at every turn. But now, no work is to be done on a version of Windows where I can enforce the XP interface, so I am forced (if I want to continue to use Windows), either to use Windows 7's further messed up interface, or gradually fall further and further behind in consumer hardware support and MS software technologies (Dx11).
Many people have left KDE because of those reasons (albeit to a lesser extent). If GNOME goes that way and totally abandons the GNOME 2 interface, we could see a radical takeover of another desktop environment. Must go and check out how the new Enlightenment is coming on...