A year or so back, Mandriva packaged a gnome-shell preview. It was rough, but worked well enough to reveal where the team was going with gnome 3. I loved it. I told anyone who would listen that this is really a revolution in how one approaches a computer. It was like I was seeing a computer for the first time, in some ways.

I think gnome 3 will really shine on touchscreen systems. I'd buy the first tablet to run gnome 3 in a heartbeat, regardless of what OS it's sporting.

I also have to admit that using gnome 3 is quite a bit of fun. Enjoying the use of your computer is important, not essential to getting a given job done, but definitely a bonus if you look forward to using the desktop.