GNOME Shell 3.8 To Get A `Classic` Mode

[SurfaceUnits]

Two weeks ago, we were telling you that the fallback mode will be dropped from GNOME 3.8 and that some extensions which provide a GNOME 2 like layout might be maintained by the GNOME developers for those who are used to the classic interface.

Well, it's now official: a few GNOME Shell extensions which bring back some "classic" features will be supported by GNOME. Among the extensions included are: classic alt tab, task bar, min/max buttons and a main menu.

Sure, there are a lot of extensions that can already mimic the classic/fallback session on extensions.gnome.org, but for each GNOME Shell release, the users have to wait for the developers to update them, and sometimes this takes a long time, so it's not a real solution for those who want to always use a GNOME2-like UI.

But because these extensions are supported by the GNOME developers, it means they will work with each new GNOME Shell version, as soon as its released.

A final decision on how the users will be able to use these extensions hasn't been made yet, but one of the ideas so far is to add a "classic mode" switch in GNOME Tweak Tool.

http://www.webupd8.org/2012/11/gnome-sh ... -mode.html

[eric k]

I don't know how much this helps people who ran Fallback/Classic because their hardware couldn't handle Shell; the functionality provided by these extensions was already available to Shell users who wanted it, but users with old GPUs are probably going to see a serious performance hit if they're required to use llvmpipe to handle 3D rendering. GNOME is still completely abandoning a non 3D accelerated desktop with this move, and in so doing are leaving a sizeable chunk of their user base behind.

That's my understanding anyways.