If you are using Unity.

[irv]

If you are using Unity go to Ubuntu Unity: Making the desktop seriously efficient again
And vote in the poll at the bottom of the page.
This article fits me perfect.
When Unity first came out I didn't care for it and moved away from it, but came back and gave it another try. That was in version 11.04. But now that I Alpha/Beta tested 12.04 from back in December of last year I will never go back to any other desktop. And believe you me I tried them all.

[zombifier25]

I had the same feelings as you
Back in 11.10 it's so bad and slow, I abandoned it in favor of 10.04. But 12.04 has really shaped it to near perfection.
I believe the issue with Unity is not that it's hard to use, but because it's different. Same with GNOME 3.

(and BTW, why can't we make threads in Recurring?)

[ExSuSEusr]

Moved to reoccurring in 5..4...3..2...

I am with you. I hated Unity when I first tried it. Now, I love it. It IS faster and more convenient than 'the others' - at least in my opinion. I think Canonical made the right choice.

[Max Blyss]

I seriously doubt that any desktop environment adds efficiency all on its own... I think it's just the nature of working with tools you like, in a way that reflects your mental layout which is responsible for improved workflow and task management. Comfort goes a long way.

[Copper Bezel]

++. I nearly died when I realized that Unity's HUD had Tomboy Notes integration to pull up any note, create a new note, etc. from the freaking Alt key at any time, anywhere, whatever you're doing. It's not enough to make me switch from Gnome Shell, but it's the first thing to truly tempt me, and it has jack all to do with the Unity desktop as a whole.

[Version Dependency]

I never like the old Gnome 2 desktop, always preferring openbox, awesome, or compiz standalone. So I didn't go into using Unity with the kind of negative bias that alot of the Gnome 2 fans did.

I started using Unity early on, in the alpha stages of 11.04 (yea, I like to live dangerously), with the intention of just helping out by using the development release of 11.04 and reporting bugs, etc....planning to go back to openbox when the official release came out. And I did go back to openbox....for two weeks before I missed Unity enough to go back. Haven't bothered spending any serious time in another environment since.

But I'm I a big keyboard guy so Unity is a dream come true for me. Hit the SUPER key for dash, start typing, launch an app. Hit the ALT key, start typing, and select the menu item within the app. Hit ALT+F2 and run a terminal command. I'll never go back to the old way of trawling through drop menus looking for something. When I login to my dad's Xubuntu computer, I keep hitting that damn SUPER key and wanting to type.

[irv]

Since I posted this that poll when up from 40% to 43%.
poll.png
EDIT: A good tool is what makes a job easier.

[frup]

I really think it all comes down to what you're used to.

I used gnome shell for over 6 months and recently returned to unity for a go. The initial week was very irritating. I would not call the inability to minimise open apps through unity's launcher a feature.

Consider a situation where you are working between two windows. If you can minimise from the launcher, clicking in the same place every single time does what you want. As unity currently stands I have to look and select each window. Sure I could alt tab I suppose, but it's never been habit for me.

I liked Gnome shells left corner window switcher, that was fast and easy, despite initially thinking it was garbage (and frequently getting annoyed when it popped up while I was trying to click something else nearby). Gnome shells method of assigning work spaces was also very good. I'm not using multiple work spaces in unity, I never have much. In gnome shell I was.

I'm hoping to begin using the HUD. I haven't yet. It pops up when I don't intend it to a lot, at least that will remind me to use it I guess, but I'm still very used to menus.

Right now I'm going to say I don't think Unity is more productive (though I prefer the term comfortable). I plan to stick with it a few months and then move on to KDE for a while maybe. Once I'm done with that cycle I'll no doubt come to the same conclusion, it's all about what you're used to.

[Dragonbite]

Unity in 12.04 is much improved over the 11.x versions.

Once I found that I could do some adjustments to the dock bar, I have had a much improved experience with Unity (I have a 14" non-widescreen laptops so real estate is important).

I like some of Gnome-shell's inter-connectedness for messaging, online accounts, etc. but I don't like the lack of easy access buttons on the dock. With Unity, they are just there (and only the ones I frequently use).

We'll see how long this lasts (I am notoriously changing desktop environments and distributions like they are underwear!)

[irv]

Yes I really like Unity, but there is one thing I would like to see that I miss from the Gnome 2.X or Xface and other desktops. Now I know I can simply hit the Super key + S to get the workspaces to appear and use the arrow keys to move from space to space and then hit the enter key to switch. But for some reason I liked the visual workspace in the panel that even shows if you have an app open.
I have Ubuntu Studio on my sound system laptop and I am using 4 workspaces all the time and I can see what is going on. I like that.