Ok, I’ve finally canned Gnome three, in favour of MATE, which is a fork of Gnome2.
Not sure how long I’ll stick with it, but this far I’m expecting it to be quite a while, it’s what Gnome3 classic / compatibility mode “should” look/work like.
http://mate-desktop.org/
Fast, clean, good-looking, stable, and available as an APT repo for Debian/Ubuntu users.
What made you switch in the first place MP?
I like Gnome 3, but on my 4+ laptop, and running full Ubuntu, performance is not what it once was compared to Gnome 2 in the Ubuntu Maverick Meerkat days.
I particularly blame Canonical and Unity. Lots of files I really don’t need!!
It’s so nice to be back on a “proper” desktop. I have a reasonably powerful PC, but even so Gnome3 is a PITA. Whereas it might be ok for “users” (although most users I know just won’t use Gnome3) as a programmer, I want a desktop I can control and do stuff with, not one that tells me how I should be working.
I can customise, add to tool bar, add a toolbar, twin screens works properly, virtual desktops on twin screens works properly, I have a proper process switcher in the bottom toolbar (I have a bottom toolbar!) I have a virtual desktop switcher on the screen all the time, I can “see” what tools are running without having to mouse off the bottom right of the screen, I have menus I can go to when I want to run stuff, rather than trying to type in the name only to find that my VNC client is called “Remmina”, which makes searching by name more interesting … should I go on? 
To paraphrase Linus; Gnome3 sucks dead rats through a straw … and don’t even get me started on Unity …
Unity is horrible. I’m finding Gnome 3 TOO heavy for my laptop, so I may give this MATE a go, although I’ll probably just go back to good old LXDE.
I’m lovin LXDE … spread the love
Mmm, I did try LXDE … didn’t really do it for me in terms of quality / integration …
Integration yes … but I’m yet to find anything I can’t get to work, one way or another.
The slight lack of easy integration has only served to teach me a lot about the underlying stuff, and how to make it do what I want … and I’m still amazed at how light/quick it is
I suppose it all boils down to what suits
Oh and another thing, Gnome3/Unity don’t play well (read::work at all) with NO (nomachine) and for anyone who does any remote maintenance this is more than a minor annoyance (!) … MATE works perfectly … (!)