I like GNOME Classic more then GNOME Shell or Unity because it has a taskbar and Applications and Places menus on top. But the one thing i am really really missing is the dash from GNOME 3 and Unity, that comes up when I press the "Super" key.
How can I use GNOME Shell with the task bar and the Applications and Places on top, or use GNOME Classic with the Unity dash, or use GNOME Classic with an alternative launcher?
Another alternative is to use unity or gnome and get the functionality you like about Gnome Classic. There is a Classic Menu Indicator, for instance.
Here is a quote from http://maketecheasier.com/10-must-have-indicator-applets-for-ubuntu-12-04/2012/06/15:
ClassicMenu Indicator:
Aw! You miss the good old classic Gnome2 menu which stayed with Ubuntu till version 10.10 but bid farewell since Ubuntu switched to Unity/Gnome 3. Here is a good news fellas! We have this tiny little applet that gives you (to an extent) same classic menu feel.
The .deb file is available to be downloaded from here. - See more at: http://linux.softpedia.com/get/Desktop-Environment/Tools/ClassicMenu-Indicator-70007.shtml
That indicator is written by Florian Diesch (also a Ask Ubuntu user).
For Ubuntu 12.04, there is a way to get the Dash. However, this includes also enabling launcher.
Start unity-2d-shell as described here: Ubuntu 12.04 Gnome Classic and Unity Launcher
You will get the unity launcher, from which you can open the dash. Or use the super/windows key.
For autohiding the launcher in 12.04 see this question: Autohide Unity Launcher in Gnome Classic.
