[citation][nom]mattw0308[/nom]The desktop is just another program that can be (un)installed and selected at login time. I have been using the Cinnamon desktop for Ubuntu 12.04 and it's nice and snappy without all the weirdness of Unity. I do have to point out that Unity represents a significant effort to modernize the desktop and has some pretty useful tools once you get used to them.[/citation]
I pulled my head out of my butt and uninstalled Unity (which I rather hate) and installed Cinnamon. Very nice. One of the things I continue to appreciate about my Mac is that it allows me to easily and simply run any OS I choose either via virtualization or directly.