GNOME 2 is a desktop environment and GUI that is developed mainly by Red Hat, Inc. It provides a very powerful and conventional desktop interface. There is a launcher menu for quicker access to applications, and also taskbars (called panels). Note that in most cases these can be located on the screen where the user desires.
The screenshot of GNOME 2 running on Fedora 14 is as follows:
This shows the desktop, a command window, and the Computer folder. The top and bottom "rows" are the panels. From the top, starting on the left, are the Applications, Places, and System menus. I then have a screensaver, the Firefox browser, a terminal, Evolution, and a Notepad. In the middle is the lock-screen app, and on the far right is a notification about updates, the volume control, Wi-Fi strength, battery level, the date/time, and the current user. Note that I have customized several of these, for example, the clock.