Dmitry Shachnev has written a small guide to get a fully working classic GNOME session in Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot, similar to Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal.

The guide includes: use the GTK3 indicator applet instead of the standard systray, fix the panel background for Ambiance, get Compiz to work and use the Ubuntu logo in the applications menu applet.