Natty Classic desktop is not like Ubuntu classic (previous) desktop: applications/places/system menu is missing

As a workaround, to restore the classic desktop menu behavior:
1) Right-click on the gray Ubuntu logo on the top panel and choose "Remove From Panel"
2) Right-click on the top panel, choose "Add to Panel", then "Menu Bar" and "Add"
3) Right-click on the newly-added Menu Bar and choose "Move" and "Lock to panel" to place the menu at the left of the panel and lock it in place

The Unity menu is called the "Main Menu", right-clicking on it and choosing "Help" has this description which includes instructions to restore it:
"The Main Menu contains the same items as the Menu Bar, but organizes them into one menu instead of three. It takes up less space on the panels as a result. To add a Main Menu to a panel, right-click on any vacant space on the panel. Choose Add to Panel, then choose Main Menu from the Add to Panel dialog"

Just want to point out that the problem is still there on Beta 1 and, without great surprise, some users/future users begin to moan about this: see various comments on http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2011/04/five-neat-changes-in-todays-unity-update/

Thanks.

(BTW: I'm happily using Unity, so personally, I don't care about the classic desktop. But if I consider my wife, father and mother as a small "focus group", I think we need a pretty straightforward classic option available for a while...)

I'm sure this will be marked as opinion. Is it more important for the fallback to resemble the deprecated Gnome 2 interface or to resemble the new default Unity interface? And the Ubuntu Classic (Gnome 2) interface won't even be available on the Ubuntu CD for 11.10.

 @Jeremy: What will be with 11.10 is not relevant. A classic mode is not for resemble the new default Unity interface, it is for people who want the old and familiar look and feel.

I believe this was fixed with

gnome-panel (1:2.32.1-0ubuntu6.2) natty
  * Update the layout to be closer from the previous cycle oben changing back
    the logo menu for the 3 menus, dropping the indicator-appmenu from the
    default layout and adding back the firefox launcher since it seems that's
    what most users are waiting from the classic session.
 -- Sebastien Bacher <email address hidden> Thu, 07 Apr 2011 17:15:32 +0200

We who use ubuntu do NOT want a windows or mac interface since we changed because we did not like either.
The new desktop is a pain in the ???? whatever you want to fill in.

The classic desktop allows very little option for changing basic functions such as the menubar seems to allow you to add things but not remove them. The color schemes are liimited and once installed such as "High Contrast" cannot be reverted EASILY.

this is supposed to be an "improvement" and leave much to be desired. Why degrade the classic desktop just to institute a "New" look which is a "Mac" look.

You can no longer hide the menu bar at the top and the status bar at the bottom of the screen and overall it sucks as an option for a classic desktop look and feel.

May force us to use a different linux version and leave ubuntu eventually if this keeps up.

drfrank01, did you try holding down the Alt key when right-clicking panel applets?

Please don't comment further here as this bug (734373) has already been fixed.