I've made comments on blogs about this and I hope it will be helpful to
add them here.

The layout I've seen in screenshots has already shown flaws, because
whatever draws the window frames hasn't been made to adjust rounded
outlines when buttons are missing. That's an "easy" fix, barely worth
noting. Same goes for other complaints about broken themes.

But also apparent in those screen shots is that with the new button
arrangement the buttons will either be in different places on different
windows, or there will be gaps, or we will need frame controls that for
some windows are always disabled. This was already a problem because of
the order of Minimize and Maximize; no maximizable window is not
minimizable, but some minimizable windows are not maximizable.

It was always advisable to put Close in the top-right corner because we
have left-aligned menu bars in the windows. In fact, in the early days
of GNOME it was decided that the Help menu item must not be right-
aligned because that would place it too close to the Close button (among
other reasons).

There has always been a good reason to keep Close away from Minimize and
Maximize - it's too easy to miss your intended target.

Put these together and an order like Min-Max----Title----Close seems
best.

But the danger of accidentally clicking Close can be mitigated by other
changes. The Close button can be disabled when there are unsaved changes
in a document. You still have to reopen your document, but at least
nothing should be lost. In lieu of that, the application can prompt the
user to save changes. Annoying, but alas.

If these things are done, then Close can be safely put next to Minimize
and Maximize and it can be put on either side.

If missing-button gaps are to be avoided, disabled window frame controls
will not be used, and the buttons will be grouped together, then there
is one button order which is suitable for the frames; from outside to
inside that is: Close, Minimize, Maximize. Change those conditions, and
anything goes. (Well, almost.)

I favor getting rid of all three buttons and replacing them with . . .
well, that another topic, eh?

-- 
[Master] Window Control buttons: position/order/alignment
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/532633
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