However I can’t help but wonder whether by trying to clean up the desktop we are now adding significantly to the depth of hidden features under a series of menus while the direction of UI should be to unearth them and make them more accessible to users.

Take clicking a button that reveals the features that were already in the old gnome panel to begin with, then opening more features that bury yet more menus. I has the appearance of regression. I guess I can’t complain until I get to use Gnome 3 on a regular basis.

neo: I think you’re missing the point. Investment has nothing to do with this. Even if Gnome Shell was entirely stable _now_, it probably wouldn’t have been included by default in Lucid Lynx. At least, I hope it wouldn’t. There have been much discussion around whether an LTS should be the first or last in relation to radical changes. I think it makes great sense to let LTSes be the last distro before big changes are made. That way, we already have good documentation when the LTS is released, we have a community of helpers and support companies that are well equipped to help new users from day one of the LTS release. These things are also important, not only the stability of the software itself. But obviously, using more mature software in the LTS also means more stable software, which is important both to companies and less technical users. These groups are probably the best candidates for LTS releases as well. Besides, the quality of Ubuntu has reached a high enough level that it’s not so important to use cutting edge versions anymore.