Unity has been both praised and hated by different people for various reasons. Mark Shuttleworth for example says that it's designed for widescreens as an example. I do fully agree with that statement, however due to the fact that I do not have a widescreen (1280x1024) Unity simply doesn't function smoothly for me.

That's what it's important for me to have a good alternative. Since I really loved Gnome 2, I'd like to ask if it's possible to keep using that in Ubuntu 11.10 or would you guys suggest another alternative and if so why?