I guess by normal I just mean what my family members might be used to coming from Windows. XFCE is much better in that regard but the GNOME2 workflow that MATE

I guess by normal I just mean what my family members might be used to coming from Windows. XFCE is much better in that regard but the GNOME2 workflow that MATE seems to stick to is not quite easy to pick up from them, so it involves either configuring panels myself or getting a hold of the MATE Tweak tool to change the layout to Redmond or whatever.