<s>
GNOME	B-Language
Shell	I-Language
is	O
the	O
graphical	B-Operating_System
shell	I-Operating_System
of	O
the	O
GNOME	B-Application
desktop	I-Application
environment	I-Application
starting	O
with	O
version	B-Language
3	I-Language
,	O
which	O
was	O
released	O
on	O
April	O
6	O
,	O
2011	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GNOME	B-Language
Shell	I-Language
replaced	O
GNOME	B-Language
Panel	I-Language
and	O
some	O
ancillary	O
components	O
of	O
GNOME	B-Application
2	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GNOME	B-Language
Shell	I-Language
is	O
written	O
in	O
C	B-Language
and	O
JavaScript	B-Language
as	O
a	O
plugin	B-Application
for	O
Mutter	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
contrast	O
to	O
the	O
KDE	B-Language
Plasma	I-Language
Workspaces	I-Language
,	O
a	O
software	O
framework	O
intended	O
to	O
facilitate	O
the	O
creation	O
of	O
multiple	O
graphical	O
shells	O
for	O
different	O
devices	O
,	O
the	O
GNOME	B-Language
Shell	I-Language
is	O
intended	O
to	O
be	O
used	O
on	O
desktop	B-Device
computers	I-Device
with	O
large	O
screens	O
operated	O
via	O
keyboard	B-Device
and	O
mouse	B-Device
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
portable	O
computers	O
with	O
smaller	O
screens	O
operated	O
via	O
their	O
keyboard	B-Device
,	O
touchpad	B-Application
or	O
touchscreen	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
concepts	O
for	O
GNOME	B-Language
Shell	I-Language
were	O
created	O
during	O
GNOME	B-Application
's	O
User	O
Experience	O
Hackfest	O
2008	O
in	O
Boston	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
criticism	O
of	O
the	O
traditional	O
GNOME	B-Application
desktop	I-Application
and	O
accusations	O
of	O
stagnation	O
and	O
lacking	O
vision	O
,	O
the	O
resulting	O
discussion	O
led	O
to	O
the	O
announcement	O
of	O
GNOME	O
3.0	O
in	O
April	O
2009	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
then	O
Red	O
Hat	O
has	O
been	O
the	O
main	O
driver	O
of	O
GNOME	B-Language
Shell	I-Language
's	O
development	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Pre-release	O
versions	O
of	O
GNOME	B-Language
Shell	I-Language
were	O
first	O
made	O
available	O
in	O
August	O
2009	O
and	O
became	O
regular	O
,	O
non-default	O
part	O
of	O
GNOME	B-Application
in	O
version	O
2.28	O
in	O
September	O
2009	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
finally	O
shipped	O
as	O
GNOME	B-Application
's	O
default	O
user	B-Application
interface	I-Application
on	O
April	O
6	O
,	O
2011	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
graphical	B-Operating_System
shell	I-Operating_System
(	O
graphical	O
front-end/graphical	O
shell/UX/UI	O
)	O
of	O
the	O
GNOME	B-Application
desktop	I-Application
environment	I-Application
,	O
its	O
design	O
is	O
guided	O
by	O
the	O
GNOME	B-Application
UX	O
Design	O
Team	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
GNOME	B-Language
Shell	I-Language
comprises	O
the	O
following	O
graphical	O
and	O
functional	O
elements	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
GNOME	B-Language
Shell	I-Language
is	O
tightly	O
integrated	O
with	O
Mutter	B-Language
,	O
a	O
compositing	B-Operating_System
window	I-Operating_System
manager	I-Operating_System
and	O
Wayland	O
compositor	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
based	O
upon	O
Clutter	B-Language
to	O
provide	O
visual	O
effects	O
and	O
hardware	B-General_Concept
acceleration	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
GNOME	B-Language
Shell	I-Language
maintainer	O
Owen	O
Taylor	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
set	O
up	O
as	O
a	O
Mutter	B-Language
plugin	B-Application
largely	O
written	O
in	O
JavaScript	B-Language
and	O
uses	O
GUI	O
widgets	O
provided	O
by	O
GTK+	B-Application
version	B-Language
3	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Changes	O
to	O
the	O
user	B-Application
interface	I-Application
(	O
UI	O
)	O
include	O
,	O
but	O
are	O
not	O
limited	O
to	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Clutter	B-Language
and	O
Mutter	B-Language
support	O
multi-touch	O
gestures	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Support	O
for	O
HiDPI	B-Algorithm
monitors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Minimization	O
has	O
been	O
removed	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
lack	O
of	O
a	O
panel	O
to	O
minimize	O
to	O
,	O
in	O
favor	O
of	O
workspace	O
window	B-Application
management	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
fallback	O
mode	O
is	O
offered	O
in	O
versions	O
3.0	O
–	O
3.6	O
for	O
those	O
without	O
hardware	B-General_Concept
acceleration	I-General_Concept
which	O
offers	O
the	O
GNOME	B-Language
Panel	I-Language
desktop	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GNOME	O
3.8	O
removed	O
the	O
fallback	O
mode	O
and	O
replaced	O
it	O
with	O
GNOME	B-Language
Shell	I-Language
extensions	B-Application
that	O
offer	O
a	O
more	O
traditional	O
look	O
and	O
feel	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
functionality	O
of	O
GNOME	B-Language
Shell	I-Language
can	O
be	O
changed	O
with	O
extensions	B-Application
,	O
which	O
can	O
be	O
written	O
in	O
JavaScript	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
can	O
find	O
and	O
install	O
extensions	B-Application
using	O
the	O
GNOME	B-Application
extensions	B-Application
website	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
of	O
these	O
extensions	B-Application
are	O
hosted	O
in	O
GNOME	B-Application
's	O
git	B-Application
repository	I-Application
,	O
though	O
they	O
are	O
not	O
official	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Arch	O
Linux	B-Application
dropped	O
support	O
of	O
GNOME	B-Application
2	O
in	O
favor	O
of	O
GNOME	B-Language
3	I-Language
in	O
its	O
repositories	B-Application
in	O
April	O
2011	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Fedora	O
uses	O
GNOME	B-Language
Shell	I-Language
by	O
default	O
since	O
release	O
15	O
,	O
May	O
2011	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Sabayon	O
Linux	B-Application
uses	O
the	O
latest	O
version	O
of	O
GNOME	B-Language
Shell	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
openSUSE	B-Operating_System
's	O
GNOME	B-Application
edition	O
has	O
used	O
GNOME	B-Language
Shell	I-Language
since	O
version	O
12.1	O
in	O
November	O
2011	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mageia	O
2	O
and	O
later	O
include	O
GNOME	B-Language
Shell	I-Language
,	O
since	O
May	O
2012	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Debian	O
8	O
and	O
later	O
features	O
GNOME	B-Language
Shell	I-Language
in	O
the	O
default	O
desktop	O
,	O
since	O
April	O
2015	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Solaris	O
11.4	O
replaced	O
GNOME	B-Application
2	O
with	O
GNOME	B-Language
Shell	I-Language
in	O
August	O
2018	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ubuntu	B-Operating_System
uses	O
GNOME	B-Language
Shell	I-Language
by	O
default	O
since	O
17.10	O
,	O
October	O
2017	O
,	O
after	O
Canonical	O
ceased	O
development	O
of	O
Unity	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
has	O
been	O
available	O
for	O
installation	O
in	O
the	O
repositories	B-Application
since	O
version	O
11.10	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
alternative	O
flavor	O
,	O
Ubuntu	B-Operating_System
GNOME	B-Application
,	O
was	O
released	O
alongside	O
Ubuntu	B-Operating_System
12.10	O
,	O
and	O
gained	O
official	O
flavor	O
status	O
by	O
Ubuntu	B-Operating_System
13.04	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GNOME	B-Language
Shell	I-Language
has	O
received	O
mixed	O
reviews	O
:	O
it	O
has	O
been	O
criticized	O
for	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
reasons	O
,	O
mostly	O
related	O
to	O
design	O
decisions	O
and	O
reduced	O
user	B-Application
control	I-Application
over	O
the	O
environment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
users	O
in	O
the	O
free	O
software	O
community	O
have	O
raised	O
concerns	O
that	O
the	O
planned	O
tight	O
integration	O
with	O
Mutter	B-Language
will	O
mean	O
that	O
users	O
of	O
GNOME	B-Language
Shell	I-Language
will	O
not	O
be	O
able	O
to	O
switch	O
to	O
an	O
alternative	O
window	B-Application
manager	I-Application
without	O
breaking	O
their	O
desktop	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
particular	O
,	O
users	O
might	O
not	O
be	O
able	O
to	O
use	O
Compiz	B-Language
with	O
GNOME	B-Language
Shell	I-Language
while	O
retaining	O
access	O
to	O
the	O
same	O
types	O
of	O
features	O
that	O
older	O
versions	O
of	O
GNOME	B-Application
allowed	O
.	O
</s>
