Back your assertion up. Does it manage windows? Yes. Does it offer status information? Yes. Can I control settings like wifi, bluetooth, etc. quickly? Yes. Does it have DE utilities to manage preferences, wallpaper, etc? Yes.

Sounds like a perfectly good desktop environment. Any comments beyond that are simply opinion.

Microsoft switched to the ribbon much to the dismay of experienced users, but for new users, it's significantly better. Their own research backed that up. Eventually, you get accustomed to it.

Gnome is trying to stay current, by offering capabilities that are found in modern environments without having to add in utilities like Gnome-Do or Cairodock. If you want the *old* interface, use XFCE or LXDE or whatever other oldschool windowing environment you'd like to use. That's what it means to have choice in the FLOSS community.

I bought the N1 unsubsidized. At the time, it was the $529 or $199 subsidized with a 2 year contract. Of course, over those two years it was an extra $20 a month on T-Mobile so $480 extra over the two years which is more than the savings from the phone. As for my monthly charges, I get 500 anytime, unlimited night and weekend, unlimited text, unlimited web for $67.78 after taxes. Broken out, it's 29.99 for minutes, 10 for text, and 20 for web according to my statement. Plus I can tether. Compare that to my wife on an iPhone 3G who's paying $89 or so after taxes with similar minutes, limited texting, and soon to be limited data. For me, that's a huge discount.