Today I decided to download Fedora 15 Beta LiveCD and see how Gnome 3 is shaping out.
Here is the Desktop, looks like a typical Gnome panel although the date/time is in the middle. Not sure what was wrong with it being in the right corner.
To access programs you can click on the Activities button or press the Windows keyboard button. After a nice and quick transitional effect this will bring up the above screen, the icons on the left are your favorites, or in this case some predefined favorites.
The default Nouveau nvidia driver seems to be working rather well.
Clicking on the Applications tab shows all available programs which you can also view by category as listed on the right.
Once again, it looks very modern and stylish.
Firefox 4, notice the awful font rendering. This is a typical characteristic of Fedora which you can easily solve by using the rpmfusion repository. The GTK window has rounded top corners, a big X button to close the program but where are the minimize and fullscreen buttons?
At least there is some hope via the right-click context menu. But when you minimize a window there is no visual indicator to illustrate a window is minimized. Sounds bonkers?
If you want to access all your minimized windows you have to click on the Activities button.
All my minimized programs. Alternatively you can press alt-tab to cycle through minimized applications without going through the Activities interface but this obviously doesn't show you what programs have been minimized.
Wireless networks in the area, all encrypted. That's a shame...
To restart or shutdown you have to first log out, then choose restart/shutdown at the login screen.
Other Gnome 3 observations
Can't drag icons to the desktop, plugging a USB storage device does not show a desktop icon.
To unmount a USB storage device you have to launch the File Manager and then right click > safely remove.
Right click on the taskbar does nothing.
To switch desktops you have to use the Activities interface.
I think Gnome 3 is very promising. The 3D effects are not over the top, instead they are pleasant and give the system a modern feel. I like the overall appearance but as it is Gnome 3 still needs a bit of work.
Canonical Ltd are making the right decision with Ubuntu 11.04 and Unity. If they made Gnome 3 the default desktop there would be widespread annoyance among the majority of its users who simply want a desktop environment that is fit for purpose.
Unfortunately for Fedora users, the current state of Gnome 3 will more or less remain the same upon the final release of Fedora 15.
The beta release is the last important milestone of Fedora 15. Only critical bug fixes will be pushed as updates leading to the general release of Fedora 15 in May
http://www.fedoraforum.org/forum/showpost.php?p=1462954&postcount=1
And if you like your compiz effects, Gnome 3 is a no go.
