GNOME Shell version π

GNOME Shell is the central new component introduced in GNOME 3. The GNOME 3 Shell integrates window management, application launching, and notification functions into a coherent whole - it is centrally responsible for managing the users workflow as they switch between different tasks and points of attention.

At this point, somewhat over halfway through the 3.2 development cycle, we've had the time to get experience with a broad spectrum of users encountering GNOME 3 for the first time. The talk will describe some of the lessons we've learned from seeing GNOME 3 go out to a broad audience: what worked, what new features caught people's fancy, and what didn't work so well. We'll look at what we are planning to do to fill gaps and improve the parts that need improvement.

We've also been rapidly working on new features for GNOME 3.2, including integrated file management and input methods and deeper integration between applications and the shell. The talk will describe
and demo these new features.

Finally, we're at a good point to review the 3.0 development cycle and see what worked out for development processes and what worked less well. How did formal code review work? What was the right way to handle tester feedback? Are there things that make sense to carry over into other similar projects?