By gregladen on 04 Oct 2014 #permalink
Greg, I get what you mean, but be aware that I had these kinds of experiences (with Ubuntu installs, upgrades, and desktop changes) before Unity was born!
So it's not just that it's a characteristic of Unity. But I also get where you're coming from regarding it "taking over" and making the OS become Windows-like... needing fresh installs, etc. to make a desktop change.
My point was, really, if you're not particular about your desktop, and Unity suits you, use it! There's nothing wrong with Unity, but it won't satisfy all tastes. At the same time: If you *do* want to change your desktop, THEN you can curse its intransigence.