If Ubuntu has done anything wrong with the full-on switch to Unity in 11.10, it's that it's kindly done us the favour of removing a classic desktop and not even

If Ubuntu has done anything wrong with the full-on switch to Unity in 11.10, it's that it's kindly done us the favour of removing a classic desktop and not even providing anything approaching similar to replace it. I can't speak for Gnome3 since it doesn't like my hardware at all, and its 'classic' mode seems broken (possibly as a result of compatibility issues). Anyway, that wouldn't be a problem at all, but Unity is still flawed, is totally unproductive for development work, and there's a distinct lack of customisation: The launch bar is useless, and doesn't work at all if you let a window snap to the left hand side. You can only add application shortcuts to it (why can't I add bookmark folders?). There are no configuration options to be seen (what if I don't want auto-hide?), and whatever options there are, they're minimal. Workspace switching isn't smooth at all and requires a strange number of clicks to make any use of. Auto-hiding menubars just obscures GUI elements I'd like to be able to see at all times. If they're not there, I have to stop and remember where to look, because I can't just glance at the top of the screen. The actual name of the app is always visible, but clicking it does nothing. This is unbelievably unintuitive. As for it replacing the classic desktop, I'm not sure what exactly was wrong with it, and why a GUI fit for a netbook or tablet is now being shoehorned into a desktop OS before it's had enough care and attention to bring it up to par with the standard desktop experience. I regret running the upgrade and as soon as I can I'm switching to something more productive and usable, because 11.10 and Unity feels like too big a jump into unfamiliar (and unstable) territory. And this is coming from an OS X user (who only uses Linux at work).