GNOME 3.0 is expected to drop later this year, and bring with it a radically different UX called Gnome Shell.
I hadn’t tried it out until recently, but all I read was generally negative reviews. People where upset that it would be a resource hog, and that the original GNOME Panel interface was gone forever. First off, any computer made within the past five years will fly with Gnome Shell, second, if you want to be stubborn, and live in the past, the two panel GNOME 2.0 setup will still be available.
Gnome Shell features a single top panel with familiar things like a clock and notification area. The big change is that Gnome Main Menu has been replaced with an “Activities” button. When clicked, or hot cornered, it brings up the desktop overview, pictured above. This overview allows users to launch programs, directories, recent documents, etc. A unified search will query for both files and applications. Users will also be able to add and remove virtual workspaces, and move applications between them.
Yes, its different. Give it a chance, change is good.