UI
In this section we're looking for simple UI change suggestions. ATM we're looking at moving to 1 panel across the top.BR It was suggested at one point that changing the default Ubuntu desktop layout would break documentation. Upon investigation the GNOME documentation allows for this with these disclaimers:
"Your distribution of GNOME may have altered this default setup."
"This chapter describes the default configuration of GNOME. Your vendor or system administrator may have configured your desktop to look different than what is described here."
So here I'm thinking:
Gnome Menu/Show Desktop/Window List/Notification Area/Clock/Quit for the items on a single panel across the top.
Computer/Home/Trash icons on the desktop.
I use a two bar system, one hidden on the bottom used as an app launcher and one always visible on top customized exactally like you showed. Except with the system preformace widget but we don't really need that. However the launcher bar is nice. Especially because the small menu icon is sometimes hard to click. I would put up a pic but I'm not on my computer right now. attachment:u-s_hardy_ui.png