http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=75463. The Gnome 3.2 desktop is available in the Debian Testing repository. This means that any Debian user who wishes to install and test out this new desktop may do so by switching to the testing repositories and installing the required packages. This forum post has some information on how to install the Gnome 3 desktop and all related packages. it is a little dated as it is referring to the experimental repos instead of the testing repositories, but it is easy to substitute the experimental repos for testing. I do not like Gnome 3 myself, the KDE desktop is a better smoother desktop environment that will make your day using Linux even more productive and efficient. The Gnome 3.2 desktop on Debian Testing supports the installation of themes from the https://extensions.gnome.org/ website. This is a very simple process, just click the extension you wish to install and slide the off button to the on position and the extension will be installed. I guess that the Gnome 3 desktop appeals to some people, but the amount of effort it takes to get it to a working familiar state is more than is necessary. KDE provides a familiar and fast desktop out of the box and does not require heaps of plugins to be added to make it usable.
The Gnome Shell Frippery extension pack for Gnome Shell is one that I recommend for users of the Gnome Shell desktop. http://intgat.tigress.co.uk/rmy/extensions/index.html This extension makes the Gnome Shell desktop look and work a little more like the Gnome 2 interface with the two panels and a Gnome 2 styled programs menu. The screenshot to the right shows the Gnome 3 desktop on Fedora 16. And this screenshot to the left shows the Gnome Shell desktop with the Gnome Shell Frippery extensions added. This makes the desktop more familiar to the users of older versions of Debian that may not like the new Gnome 3 interface. When I was running Debian 3.0 I ran the KDE desktop, version 2.0 and that was very usable indeed. There are some differences between the KDE 2.2 and 4.8 releases, but it has stayed true to its roots whilst Gnome has morphed into a desktop environment for the tablet computers that are all the rage right now. But using Linux is all about choice and everyone has their own preference for a usable desktop.