Introduction
When I first started out with Linux I used Mandrake (later Mandriva, then Mageia) and then openSUSE and the desktop environment that I used was KDE.
The first time I tried GNOME was with Ubuntu 8.04 and for years this set the standard. In what was seen as a controversial move at the time Ubuntu switched from GNOME to Unity and GNOME seemed to be heading in a direction aimed at losing its loyal support base.
At first Unity was hated by nearly everybody but with the release of Ubuntu 12.04 many people could see the benefits.
It is now 2015 and when you compare Unity to the old style GNOME interface which is essentially the MATE desktop it is hard to see the benefits of using MATE over Unity.
Supporters of the old GNOME 2 interface will gloat about the performance of their beloved old school desktop environment but Unity offers so much more with clever keyboard shortcuts and desktop integration for commonly used tools such as email, audio and video.
GNOME 3 for ages was at the back of my mind because although it provided many of the features that Unity offers it didn't seem quite as intuitive and the performance wasn't so good.
Anybody who has been reading my recent reviews of openSUSE and Fedora will know that I have fallen back in love with GNOME and I would say that GNOME 3 now performs and looks better than Unity.
The point of this article therefore is to compare the flagship Ubuntu which utilises the Unity desktop with Ubuntu GNOME.
The underlying architecture is the same and so many of the issues that plague Ubuntu also plague Ubuntu GNOME such as the inability to install the Ubuntu Restricted Extras package from the Software Centre.
Navigation
The main benefit of Unity over GNOME is the launcher down the left side of the screen.
You can access your most commonly used applications with a single mouse click. To do the same thing with GNOME requires pressing the "super" key on the keyboard and then selecting an icon.
Within Unity if you are loading an application that isn't in the launcher you can either bring up the dash and start typing in the search bar or click on the applications tab within the dash and open up the installed applications link to show all applications on your system.
With GNOME the process is fairly similar. Open up the activities window by pressing the super key and click on the bottom icon to show all of the applications. If you have read my article highlighting GNOME's keyboard shortcuts you will know that you can get to the same screen with a single keyboard combination of "super" and "a".
There are some subtle differences between Unity and GNOME and which is deemed better will be determined by what you are trying to do at the time.
Clearly the easiest way to find an application is to start using the search bar but if you just want to browse then GNOME makes that slightly easier from the outset. The reason for this is that as soon as you get to the applications view you start to see icons for all of the applications installed on your system and you can either page down or click on the little dots to move onto the next page of applications.
Within Unity the screen is split into recently used applications, installed applications and applications you might wish to install. If you just want to browse applications installed on your system you have to click an extra link to expand the view to show those applications. It is therefore slightly easier to browse your installed applications with GNOME than it is with Unity.
Hold on there though. What if you have hundreds of applications installed and you just want to see the games? In GNOME you have to use the search box which whilst reasonably accurate does leave the possibility that you won't have every game returned that is installed on your system.
Unity provides a filter whilst browsing your applications allowing you to filter by category such as games, office, audio etc. Unity also allows you to filter by local applications and applications in the software centre. This is incredibly useful as results for applications you might wish to install are returned without having to open the software centre.
Integration
Without doubt the desktop integration provided by Unity is far better than the desktop integration provided by GNOME.
The different lenses provided by Unity allow you to play songs, watch videos, view your photo collection and interact online without opening separate applications.
Ubuntu GNOME doesn't do the GNOME desktop justice because it doesn't have the GNOME Music player installed by default. The GNOME music player fits very nicely with the rest of the GNOME desktop and it is better than the lens provided by Unity.
Within Unity you can filter the tracks by genre or decade but within GNOME you can create playlists and interact more fully with your audio. Unfortunately it isn't installed by default so you will have to install it yourself.
The video player provided with GNOME is the same one used to play videos within Unity. They both suffer from a similar flaw. One of the search options within the video player is to search Youtube but when you try and search for youtube videos a message appears stating that Youtube isn't compatible.
Applications
The applications installed within the Unity and GNOME versions of Ubuntu are pretty much the same except for the email client.
The Unity version of Ubuntu has Thunderbird whilst the GNOME version comes with Evolution. Personally I prefer the Evolution mail client as it has better integration for appointments and tasks and the mail viewer is akin to Microsoft Outlook.
It really comes down to personal choice and it isn't like you can't install Evolution within Ubuntu Unity or indeed Thunderbird within Ubuntu GNOME.
Installing Applications
Both the Unity and GNOME versions of Ubuntu use the Software Centre which I guess isn't particularly surprising but is a little bit disappointing as GNOME normally comes with its own package installer which I think has a nicer interface.
Performance
Boot times between the Unity and GNOME versions of Ubuntu are again pretty much the same. I would say however that GNOME performs slightly better than Ubuntu when navigating and for general use.
Summary
Unity is the main focus for Ubuntu's developers whereas Ubuntu GNOME is more of a community project.
It is definitely worth giving the GNOME version a go as the desktop performs slightly better and is less cluttered.
Why is it less cluttered? The launcher takes up quite a bit of room and although you can reduce the size or even hide the launcher it isn't the same as having the blank canvass in the first place. The other reason the GNOME desktop is less cluttered is that it isn't trying to sell you anything. There are no suggestions for items you might like to buy.
Unity as mentioned earlier does provide nicer integration for photos, music, video and online activity and if you may like the software suggestions. The filters within the individual lenses are also particularly useful.
If you have already installed the main Ubuntu then I don't recommend uninstalling and installing Ubuntu GNOME. If you want to try GNOME open up the software centre and search for the GNOME desktop environment. After the desktop has been installed you can select it whilst logging in.
