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Will Ubuntu 11.04 use Gnome 3? If so, what differences for end-user is going to be? I know that there won't be Gnome shell, but what about the login screen? Will Ubuntu continue using that old (GNOME 2.X) one, or create its own, or use the new Gnome 3 login screen (maybe it will be a part of gnome shell? http://live.gnome.org/GnomeShell/Design/Whiteboards/LoginScreen)?

Jorge Castro
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Tadas N.
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  • Will it be possible to use Gnome 3 with the original Gnome shell instead of Unity without problems, or do I have to compile and install it manually? –  Feb 24 '11 at 12:05

2 Answers2

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No, but it was originally planned to do so.

Original answer (now incorrect):

Yes, it will use Gnome 3 but with the Unity shell.

See:

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dv3500ea
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  • Thank you for your answer. I just would like to know if login screen is a part of Gnome shell. As I understand, it shouldn't be, but in Gnome website I find it in the directory, dedicated to shell. – Tadas N. Oct 29 '10 at 19:44
  • As far as I know, GDM (the current login screen) will continue to be used but don't take my word for it. – dv3500ea Oct 29 '10 at 19:57
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    The login screen is not part of the shell, though it often uses components of it. At the moment, we use GDM for the login screen on Ubuntu with Unity. – Mark Shuttleworth Nov 04 '10 at 14:11
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dv3500ea's answer was the original goal however this didn't end up happening. Sebastian Bacher posted an update to the ubuntu-desktop mailing list in January.

It turned out that it's not really possible to bring some updated components or softwares in without bringing the GNOME3 desktop (see the blueprint whiteboard for details). So the choice is on whether to switch to GNOME3 this cycle or not. The topic has been discussed several times between the Ubuntu Desktop Team members recently and we decided to stay on GNOME 2.32 for natty and ship GNOME3 in a ppa for this cycle and land it early in Ubuntu proper next cycle.

and later on:

In summary we don't feel integrating GNOME3 with a high quality level in Ubuntu is a job which can be done in one cycle and we prefer to delay it to be default next cycle.

Right now Nautilus, and the other components of the GNOME desktop are 2.32.

However you can try GNOME 3 via PPA by following the instructions in this answer:

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Jorge Castro
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