GNOME Shell does have a very good launcher that can be accessed in the dash, which makes it possible to navigate the system using only the keyboard, but this is not unique to GNOME. Even in a desktop environment the doesn't include a launcher you can install a standalone one like Synapse or Albert. Albert seems to me to be just as good as GNOME's launcher, and it is not integrated into the dash.
Opening the dash in GNOME 3 runs not only the launcher, but also a workspace switcher, a dock, and an overview of all windows open in the present workspace, even though the user would generally only need one of these at a time. Combining all of them so that they are all accessed with the same key or button is an excellent design choice for a tablet with only one button, and even on a desktop it has the advantage of saving the user the trouble of memorizing multiple keyboard shortcuts. However, it is demanding on hardware, making it run poorly on old machines and tempting users without adequate free drivers for their GPU to install proprietary ones. My GPU does have a free driver but is old, and the dash in GNOME 3 is too slow and choppy to be usable. Cinnamon, on the other hand, has the same features as the dash (workspace switcher, overview of windows in current workspace, launcher) but gives each one its own keyboard shortcut and runs them one at a time, and my computer is able to handle this. Cinnamon also has a software rendering version, which has the same features but leaves out any eye candy that requires 3D acceleration. This is usuable even without the GPU. It is possible (and requires fewer key strokes) to change workspaces in GNOME without the dash, but the animation for this also requires 3D acceleration, which makes it slow and choppy on my computer, as well as on a Macbook unless the proprietary Nvidia driver is installed. It is also possible to use the launcher without the dash, which causes no performance issues, but Albert or another standalone launcher can do the same thing in any DE.
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