Is Gnome-shell faster or only I feel like that?

[sgage]

I just wanted to add an update...

I applied the gnome3-staging PPA, and it bumped GDM from 3.8.0 to 3.8.1, and it now works well. I now have a fully functional GDM/GS system in Saucy for the first time in a while...

[VinDSL]

I applied the gnome3-staging PPA, and it bumped GDM from 3.8.0 to 3.8.1, and it now works well. I now have a fully functional GDM/GS system in Saucy for the first time in a while...

Sweet!

If you decide to try 3.9.1 -- as Harry said -- there have been some teething problems in Saucy.

Heads up...

One of the manifestations has been, GDM quits working (has happened to me twice in the past week).

If GDM quits working, because of this_or_that upgrade, switching to LightDM will allow you to login, and fix the problem(s).

sudo dpkg-reconfigure gdm

Currently, GDM/GS is working fine for me, but that doesn't guarantee it will work tomorrow, you know?

[markbl]

That said, I judge that ppl are really missing out, if they haven't tried the lastest Gnome-Shell. They've definitely made many, many improvements to it, over the past few months.

I respectfully disagree. I use GS 3.8 all day every day on Ubuntu 13.04 + GNOME 3 ppa and GS 3.4 on another stock Ubuntu 12.04 box and they are fundamentally the same. GS has always been good! I think the changes to the messaging menu in GS 3.8 are a step backwards because now you don't see "everything" when you press the super key. The new message tray is too big and clumsy to use. I prefer the tray in GS 3.4 - although the larger and proportionally scaled windows in the GS 3.8 are a definite improvement. I don't really see much point in the new GDM slide shade.

Regarding performance, I have always found that GS performs well on all the boxes I have installed it. Unity used to have some performance issues but recent versions are fine, same as GS. I like Unity but have no need for all that scope stuff which Unity emphasises. I just want the simple launcher as in GS and I love the GS overview for window selection/management. There's beauty in the simple elegant GS design (although the new message tray breaks that elegance somewhat IMHO).

[sgage]

Sweet!

If you decide to try 3.9.1 -- as Harry said -- there have been some teething problems in Saucy.

Heads up...

One of the manifestations has been, GDM quits working (has happened to me twice in the past week).

If GDM quits working, because of this_or_that upgrade, switching to LightDM will allow you to login, and fix the problem(s).

sudo dpkg-reconfigure gdm

Currently, GDM/GS is working fine for me, but that doesn't guarantee it will work tomorrow, you know?

I've gotten very familiar with that command over the past few weeks

You don't even have to switch to lightdm... when gdm fails, just ctl-alt-Fx to a VT and you can run the command there. Maybe first do

service gdm stop

and then

service gdm start

afterwards. Or just reboot. No guarantees in this business, indeed!

[Chanath]

VinDSL Are these the versions you're running, too?

Everything is working fine, here...

gir1.2-clutter-1.0 is 1.14.4-1

Are you using GS 3.9.1?
If so, do you have enough extensions?

[VinDSL]

I respectfully disagree.[...]

That's fine...

I should have used another word. "Improvements" is a highly subjective term, isn't it?

The jury is out, on whether or not the "changes" are actually "improvements".

[VinDSL]

You don't even have to switch to lightdm... when gdm fails, just ctl-alt-Fx to a VT and you can run the command there.[...]

True!

My problem was... GDM was hard-locking my machine at some guttural/hardware level -- keyboard went dormant, and so forth, and so on.

Only way I could boot was to go into recovery mode, switch DMs, and reboot.

[dino99]

gir1.2-clutter-1.0 is 1.14.4-1

Are you using GS 3.9.1?
If so, do you have enough extensions?

GS 3.8/3.9 are quite the same, BUT the extensions are not available for 3.9 (except 2 that i does not care)
Quickly said, 3.9 is missing the topicon & appindicator extensions right now. Thats too bad.

[Chanath]

GS 3.8/3.9 are quite the same, BUT the extensions are not available for 3.9 (except 2 that i does not care)
Quickly said, 3.9 is missing the topicon & appindicator extensions right now. Thats too bad.

Installed GS 3.9, but came back to GS 3.8.2, as I need some extensions. Next change would be, when extensions are there, most probably GS 3.10...

[Harry33]

Interesting!

...

Are these the versions you're running, too?

Everything is working fine, here...

Yes they are, and they do work fine.
The new clutter-1.0_1.14 branch clutter can only be used with gnome 3.8 branch, not with the 3.6 branch, which we still have in saucy.
In other words, if you use Gnome3 PPA (and even Gnome3 Staging), then clutter-1.0_1.14.4-1 is just fine.