I'm running now natty (Ubuntu 11.04) but the unity test fail on one topic although I have a Nvidia chip on my Dell 620.
Will I have a GNOME desktop after installing Ubuntu 11.10 although Unity did not run on my 11.04?
I can't trust the Live CD since it does not use the Nvidia proprietary drivers while running.
You will be able to run Unity2D straight up after the installation.
It is installed by default with 11.10 and really will not care what driver your are using as long as you can boot to graphical login.
It is fast, almost as cute as Unity3D and will not hog your graphics card.
As an option will will also be able to run GNOME Classic session and make your desktop at least as similar as GNOME2 was. For more information on that have a look at this post
You should be able to run the Unity 2D in 11.10 Here is a link for a tutorial http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2011/10/unity-2d-tweak-app-updated-for-11-10/
