Re: I'm switching from win8 to ubuntu gnome this weekend
Jim 59> @AC use, Mint, not Ubuntu !
I think you mean ´Unity´ (being the default UI for Ubuntu). As pointed out above, Mint is based on the Ubuntu chassis - it´s good but each can choose their prefered UI.
Personnaly I use Ubuntu/Unity on my desktop - excellent for big screen, multi-document editing & graphics, but i am writing this using Ubuntu/XFCE (light weight desktop) on my HP 11 Chromebook (c/o Crouton). Also excellent, very XP-like but without the blue-screen!