For me, I like visibility of “everything”.
So, having a “taskbar”, the way MATE offers on the bottom panel (for my setup) is ideal … and I consider that an “advanced” design concept. After all, isn’t that what various HUDs attempt, global visibility?
The “merry-go-round” of the Cairo dock just isn’t for me!
The other “advanced” aspect is having all my “preferred service providers” (a.k.a. Apps and Notifiers) pinned to the upper panel (again, for my configuration).