Is unity worth learning?

I started using Ubuntu years ago when GNOME was the default desktop environment and it was perfect, it had the topbar where I could add launcher icons, and a bottom bar for switching between windows. The topbar also had the dropdown menus (Applications, System, Places etc.), thats probably why I was instantly converted to linux. Unity on the other hand, if I didn't know the hotkeys I'd be crippled. Its only because I'm more experienced with linux now that I decided to switch, if I was a newbie switching over from Windows, I'd probably go back to Windows when I saw unity because I wouldn't want to have to learn a completely different desktop environment. Have many of you here just went with the change and learned unity, if so does it turn out to be as good or better than the old school GNOME interface, once you learn how to use it? Are you able to tweak and customise it in whatever way you want? The main things I want to add are a bottom bar that shows all the open windows, and the ability to add launcher icons to the topbar. Dropdown menus would be nice too. The sidebar in unity is good, it has launcher icons and window selectors, I'll definitely be keeping that but I wanna add a bottom bar too.

I haven't tried GNOME 3 yet, I heard something about Ubuntu 14 coming with GNOME 3 as an option, well I did actually try it once and was turned away because it was so different, I'd be just as well going with unity. Would you recommend GNOME 3 over unity?

EDIT: I just figured out what happens if you click the super key, or click ALT by itself. I'm starting to like unity a whole lot better now. CTRL + ALT + RIGHT doesn't work though, does unity not have a desktop switcher?

Each person is different, but I enjoy using GNOME Shell as much as I enjoy using Unity, and I don't miss the old GNOME at all. In Ubuntu, I've added GNOME Shell, and I use that about as much as I use Unity. In Unity, I don't really use hotkeys. I don't concern myself with trying to "tweak and customise it in whatever" way I want.

I've pretty much got my head around unity and am starting to like it, unity-tweak-tool is decent but to get a bottom bar, and proper topbar I installed gnome-panel. Works fine although the topbar is overlapping the unity topbar. Need to figure that out. I can't minimize or close windows without the unity topbar.

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Originally Posted by malspa

Each person is different, but I enjoy using GNOME Shell as much as I enjoy using Unity, and I don't miss the old GNOME at all. In Ubuntu, I've added GNOME Shell, and I use that about as much as I use Unity. In Unity, I don't really use hotkeys. I don't concern myself with trying to "tweak and customise it in whatever" way I want.

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+1!

My personal opinion keeps changing.

I liked Unity in Precise, but in Trusty it's a total kludge on these two boxes:

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AMD Sempron Processor LE-1250 @ 2.2 GHz
nVidia C61 [GeForce 7025 / nForce 630a] (rev a2)
nVidia MCP61 High Definition Audio (rev a2)
nVidia MCP61 Ethernet (rev a2)
2GB DDR2 RAM

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Intel Atom CPU 230 @ 1.60GHz
Intel 82945G/GZ Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 02)
Intel N10/ICH 7 Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 01)
Realtek RTL8101E/RTL8102E PCI Express Fast Ethernet controller (rev 02)
2GB DDR2 RAM

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By a kludge I mean sloooow .......... if I find myself drumming my fingers on the desktop waiting for an app to open or for a search to complete my patience wears thin very quickly.

I really like Ubuntu GNOME for many tasks, but not for streaming videos, and I want one single DE that just gets out of the way and lets me do whatever I want to do while using as few resources as possible.

So right now I'm pretty much settled in on flashback w/metacity (the old "classic"/fallback mode for GNOME 3), but Lubuntu and Xubuntu are both attractive and Mate will be in the repos in Utopic so it should be quite nice by 16.04.

Sooooooooooooo many choices :D

Unity's learning curve is flat, as are those of other interfaces. Most complaints about one interface or another being difficult or inflexible happen when people insist on trying to use them as something they aren't. We all have our preferences and we should all use what we prefer.

Unity and Gnome Shell are variations on the dock-and-panel approach. Put icons for the apps you use most frequently in the dock. Replace hierarchical text menus with large icon-based menus. To me, the difference between icons in something called a dock and something called a panel is tiny, as is the difference between the two kinds of menus.

I use Unity without resorting to keystrokes. However, holding down the Super/Windows key for a second will pop up a window displaying all the default key combos.

I've tweaked it so its got everything GNOME had and more. To do this I installed gnome-panel as a startup app. That adds a topbar and bottom bar. Problem is the topbar conflicts with unities menu bar, so to fix that I installed dconf-editor then went into org -> gnome -> gnome-panel -> layout -> top levels -> top-panel-0 and in there, theres an option called "enable-buttons". I checked the box, now theres a button that lets me switch between gnome-panels topbar and unities topbar. So thats everything I had with GNOME, but now I have an additional sidebar and proper compatibility with Ubuntu.

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does unity not have a desktop switcher?

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The switcher is not enabled by default and can be via appearance > behavior > enable work spaces. I like Unity on the net book because application access is quicker than menu scrolling due to screen size at least for me . I have experimented with most of the well known desktop environments and enjoy the diversity,