Gnome 2 is my favorite desktop enviornment.
Too bad all we have is MATE now.
I absolutely loved GNOME 2 and I'm happy that MATE exists. I initially hated GNOME 3. But, it's gotten way better with the introduction of the tweak tool, extensions and themes.
I prefer Cinnamon. Looks and functions hella nice and has given me the least trouble out of every DE I've tried.
I tried out Cinnamon but I didn't like it as much. Not sure why, I think it was little things that bugged me.