Comment 15 for bug 667245

" - by default, in Natty this will do a "desktop spread" showing all the
windows on the current workspace, rather than the Maverick behaviour of
showing all the workspaces. This is to accommodate the fact that most
people only use one workspace, and everyone starts out that way till
they activate the others."

That change makes no sense at all to me. If you default to having one workspace, then you already have the behaviour you are describing (showing one workspace with all programs on it).
When an advanced user adds more, he really wants to see all of them, because otherwise you're introducing extra clicks for him and you are basically annoying him.
Therefore, I'd recommend not changing the behaviour, but simply the number of default workspaces (to just one).

" - however, we will limit the number of workspaces to 4 in Natty, with
experimentation under way for more workspaces in line with the
interactions we support in Natty."

Again, this makes no sense. Some users want 8, 9, or more workspaces. Why would you limit them in their options? It really can't be because of new or inexperienced users getting in trouble then, because you can default to one workspace anyway (see above).

I really enjoy Ubuntu, and I have high hopes for Unity on the Desktop. But seriously, don't take our freedom of configuring away without a damn good reason. New users can have sane defaults set for them, and they will be happy. Therefore, they are not a good reason.
Ubuntu is supposed to be for every one, not just new users. Also, designing for just new users is a mistake. Read About face again: perpetual intermediates are the main target for a reason. Help new users, empower experts, but optimise for intermediates.

(Hopefully, this can become a thriving and productive discussion. I look forward to playing my part in it.)