I finally got around to giving Unity a decent go (i.e. Ubuntu 12.10), and wow. It's terrible.
I gave it 24 hours of sole use, and I just couldn't gel with it. I had been using the last Gnome release of Ubuntu.
So I decided to start looking around, and despite looking far and wide, I seem to have landed not too far away from where I started, with XFCE (Xubuntu 12.10).
I am loving its simplicity and light weight. I have decent hardware, so lightweight wasn't a priority, but XFCE does what it says on the tin, and is certainly a truckload prettier and smoother than it was years ago.
Early on (RH 3.x etc) I really liked Kubuntu, maybe because it was an easier transition between that and Windows 95/98. Gnome had been my go to in recent years.
So, Linux lovers, what say you. What are you running now in the way of a DE, and what do you like about it.


