[pqb]

I like GNOME because of its design choices in 3.x+. I really appreciate the aforementioned large controls, title bars (often integrated as toolbar menus) and resignation of menus in favour of dedicated pop-overs. IMHO it is a step forward in providing simpler UI, but yes - it has some drawbacks too.

Ironically, I see the designers of macOS built-in applications (e.g. Finder.app or System Settings.app) are following their GNOME counterparts rather than the other way around. Since Maverick, Apple has lagged behind in terms of UI innovation and it is the GNOME designers, who are pushing forward with new ideas. The addition of a header bar in Finder.app and Nautilus made them much more usable for me [0] [1]. The same can be said for System Settings.app [2], which now follows the design and layout of the GNOME Control Center. GNOME has been a copycat for many years, its UI was inspired by macOS/iOS, but now the roles are reversed.

The missing piece of the puzzle is searchability, which GNOME 3.x+ lacks and which GNOME excelled at in the days of Unity DE. Hopefully GNOME 40+ will bring some improvements in this area.

[JohnFen]

> I really appreciate the aforementioned large controls, title bars (often integrated as toolbar menus) and resignation of menus in favour of dedicated pop-overs.

Heh, those are all on my list of things I hate about Gnome. Funny how different people can be.