Yes, I forgot about Consort. That might be the way forward.
But if someday all major 3D hardware is supported with freedom, then I would support a switch to GNOME 3. That DE runs about as light as XFCE, and it's too modern and beautiful to pass up. Traditional desktop forks and reversions are the exception to the rule, an exception taken by some old-timers; the rule is the a move away from the 90s/00s desktop metaphor to something rather more human-centric.
