I want to know if I can go back to a 10.04 style Gnome environment. By 10.04 environment, I mean the ability to add icons and little applets, like drawer, on the top menu bar. Right now, after all I have tried, it does not seem possible. So, I am not stuck on using 10.04, but am using 10.04 as an example of things I liked and am wondering how to get them back.

Is this a straightforward thing to do, or more painful than it is worth?

If I go back to Gnome, am I going to suffer on the next LTS upgrade?

Right now, I have the basic 12.04 environment, with Gnome installed -- sudo apt-get install gnome-panel -- but I found I could not go back up to the top menu and put in my familiar drawers and other installed icons.

I tried both Gnome settings, one less graphically intensive than the other. As a matter of fact, Unity seemed to be better just because I could get to the few installed icons that the upgrade picked off my old Gnome menu.

Thanks.