I felt the same way initially. I -hated- Gnome 3 and the developers who ruined it, as Gnome 2 was so sweet. Eventually, I discovered extensions, and user them

I felt the same way initially. I -hated- Gnome 3 and the developers who ruined it, as Gnome 2 was so sweet. Eventually, I discovered extensions, and user themes, and it made the whole experience not just usable but even better. Dash to panel and tray icons are essential, and make Gnome pretty nice. Or that could be the Stockholm Syndrome talking. Without extensions, I wouldn't use Gnome 3. You could make the argument that shouldn't be necessary, and I'd probably agree. I don't particularly like that Gnome seems at times hostile to extensions, and that they don't work more closely with the extension authors. Half mine seem to break every version upgrade.