This is like a list of regressions and things you can add through extensions.gnome.org. The thing to keep in mind is GNOME is part design philosophy, the vanilla experience is spartan but GNOME gives a lot under the hood for apps to take advantage. Granted, I don’t think the project is quite there yet as GNOME 3.x is meant to be an in-progress desktop. Still, it seems the author would be happier with some other GNOME-based DE’s that are designed to give him the (rather old-school) UX he seeks.