There's really only one reason I do use GNOME Shell: the Pidgin IM integration and Panel OSD extensions popup a pidgin notification in the center screen where I

There's really only one reason I do use GNOME Shell: the Pidgin IM integration and Panel OSD extensions popup a pidgin notification in the center screen where I can reply back to it inline without having to switch to the desktop where pidgin is running (or switch to the active pidgin window even if it's running on the other monitor with the static desktop). I do so much communication with various people throughout the day (using protocols supported by Pidgin) that this saves me a whole heck of a lot of time. I just wish it was available for other desktops.