1. What others say...
Plain list, to be edited later. Keep it sorted by date.
1.1. about GNOME
"[...] I've got actually very used to the GNOME desktop. I like its no-nonsense approach [...] It's an exciting desktop to work with [...]." -- Graham Morrison, Linux Format #87 (January 2007), pages 56-59
"This is similar to Windows — but perhaps a bit more like the Mac in that it feels less cluttered. In a trial in Birmingham, where users were given two days with each, Les Timms found that users preferred GNOME to the similar KDE environment. Anyone used to opening, closing and minimising windows in a Microsoft environment can go straight into GNOME and get busy." -- Peter Judge, ZDNet UK, November 2005
"As part of my work, I had to install and use Windows XP this past week. I had not used a Windows desktop for a couple of years for anything but testing. I found using it painful. I finally reorganized the program menu like my GNOME desktop so I could find programs easier." -- Tom Adelstein, in the Linux Journal, July 2005.
"And I'm thinking that Grandma--who, having never used a PC before, doesn't yet know what a window is and certainly won't care very much whether it is blue or grey or metallic-looking--will appreciate Gnome's simplicity, too. After all, she's got a learning curve ahead. I'm just trying to keep it manageable. That's why I've chosen Gnome for her." -- Matthew Newton, PC World, April 2004
1.1.1. about GNOME as default desktop
"Ubuntu rises to the top in usability. The product's menus are well laid out and descriptive, applications are organized into logical areas and startup and shutdown tasks are easily accomplished. Joining networks, browsing the web and setting up wireless access are all equally as easy. Ubuntu tries to eschew much of the technobabble associated with Linux and helps to further ease the transition for a user moving from Windows to an alternative operating system." -- Frank J. Ohlhorst, in CRN August, 2006
"I instantly fell in love with this distro, which could be defined with one word: Simplicity. [...] JDS's Gnome based desktop is a pleasure to use." -- Fernando Cassia, in -The, Oct. 2005
"Ubuntu is totally free. [...] It also has, on top of that, very good ease-of-use. It's going to be usable by people that aren't Linux experts and really just want to have an easy-to-use desktop [...]." -- Tony Iams, vice president and senior analyst with Ideas International in Port Chester, N.Y., in SearchEnterpriseLinux, July 2005
"Logging in to the system (Foresight Linux) produces one of the cleanest desktops out there. The desktop space itself contains only icons for browsing the computer, home directory, documents, music, photos, and trash. [...] The Gnome menus are organized better than many distros out there. Everything is accessible withing two or three clicks at the most. The organization is just very intelligent and intuitive." -- Adam Doxtater, MadPenguinDotOrg, July 2005
"The GNOME 2.6 desktop gives Fedora Core II a set of rich features. Gnome provides enhancements that make the desktop easier to use, with noticeable improvements in speed, a slightly improved and more intuitive user interface and a new help system. The desktop remains simple but appears more responsive." -- Tom Adelstein, DesktopLinux.com, August 2004
"Fedora's marriage of kernel 2.6 and Gnome 2.6 (the identical version numbers are just a coincidence) makes for a very responsive system that's a pleasure to use." -- Matthew Newton, PC World, May 2004