I too have switched from GNOME 2 to Xfce, since it suits _my_ needs better than GNOME 3 does. I'm not sure if the hypothesis is correct, but it seems that GNOM

I too have switched from GNOME 2 to Xfce, since it suits _my_ needs better than GNOME 3 does. I'm not sure if the hypothesis is correct, but it seems that GNOME 3 is targeting the desktop market that Apple has so well-cornered and optimized. There are things that do not logically make sense, to me, within Mac OS X and subsequently GNOME 3, but just the same they are included in the desktop GNU/Linux initiative. I'm not entirely convinced that this is the path forward.