Comment 3 for bug 462008

Thanks, but this is part of the DX teams goal of cleaning up the notification area and providing functionality that used to be provided by interactive notifications (see https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MessagingMenu). It is not possible to change the fundamental behaviour of a core application one day before release.

Most of your issues seem to be down to personal preference, and are therefore very subjective. Also remember that Pidgin used the messaging menu in Jaunty.

You say: "but what if you are away when they come in? You come back to your computer and that chat is hidden in a drawer? My Uncle will shut down his computer without seeing them." - I don't see how this is any different to them being hidden away in an obscure IM icon that would otherwise be displayed.

You're more than welcome to disable the messaging menu in your config if you prefer not to use it