not to mention the fact that i'm now hardwired to go to the left corner or "windows key" to do things, which is something i really like doing (and do intuitivel

not to mention the fact that i'm now hardwired to go to the left corner or "windows key" to do things, which is something i really like doing (and do intuitively now). i really like that one can just press the windows key and start typing. regarding showing nautilus style icons on the desktop, you'll want to get the gnome-tweak-tool and then go to Desktop and enable the "have file manager handle the desktop" option. You'll have to restart, logout, or restart the desktop manager to see the change, but this should do it for you.