Gnome 3 is very usable and intuitive, stop reading old stories
When Gnome 3 came out, people all complained about what was missing, and there were a lot of things. But, as the Gnome team pointed out, the whole reason for the change was to allow users to determine how things would work. extensions.gnome.org has tons of great extensions that add everything back you wanted and allow you wonderful customizations you wouldn't have had before. Stop spouting old stories and try it again. I find it much more usable than the Gnome 2 stuff I have been using for 15 years and am more efficient also.