I guess that you are missing the point. Workspaces are not graveyards. They're spaces where you can group activities according to your needs and workflow.
You can use the workspaces to be more efficient by being less distracted by the unused applications you want to keep open.
I was not really using workspaces in Gnome 2. In Gnome 3 it's part of the complete experience.
As I said earlier, you need to change your workflow to reap the benefits of the new Gnome. Personnaly I find this so much more efficient I don't see any reason to go back
-- Cyril Arnaud