I already used Gnome 2 in the past, and preferred Xfce.
I began to use Gnome 4 without any intent to keep it, or being aware that it was the default on Fedora. I wanted something recent, but not Archlinux, not Ubuntu, not Slackware, not Manjaro, not Linux Mint...
I got used to it and really like it. If I had known that it was Gnome, I would have avoided it. At all costs.
But... Nowadays, Gnome 2, Plasma, Xfce, seem so much slower to use. Too much actions for simple things (Xfce, Gnome 2), too much settings everywhere (KDE/Plasma).
I really like the modern Gnome way of doing things. Yes, it is very different. But it's also very efficient. It's slick, fast, lean, and mean.