Clarification: Cinnamon isn't "the fallback mode," by which I think you mean the thing variously referred to as "GNOME Fallback" or "Gnome Classic"
(I can't keep the terminology straight either, maybe this will help: http://askubuntu.com/questions/83351/which-is-correct-gnome-classic-or-gnome-fallback ).

Cinnamon is like the fallback mode in that it builds on Gnome 3 while attempting to feel familiar to Gnome 2 users. But it's a different codebase worked on by different people (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinnamon_%28user_interface%29)

You are correct that both Cinnamon and "fallback" still lack quite a bit of Gnome 2's functionality. I'm keeping a hopeful eye on Cinnamon, but still running Gnome 2 indefinitely.

New York's 2nd Avenue subway started construction 40 years ago, after first being planned 83 years ago.
And yes, the project is currently under construction (again).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Avenue_Subway#Background

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(paraphrasing Patrick McGoohan)