Strange X behavior in 20060812 rawhide

[Jay Cliburn]

I'm seeing unusual behavior in X/gnome after today's update.

1.  The desktop switcher is gone from my default gnome session, now
replaced by a new trash can.  (This may be a feature of the new 
gnome-theme, perhaps.)

2.  After a reboot and a fresh login to X, things look pretty much
normal on the desktop, but whenever I launch a gnome-terminal, 
all window decorations disappear and the launched terminal is 
anchored and immovable in the upper left corner of the display.
Subsequent gnome-term launches overlay the previous instance in
the same location. It's as if the window manager stops running.  
Starting metacity manually returns the desktop to normal.

3.  Thunderbird disappears.  It's still running, but the window is
no longer displayed.  Upon logout, the window flashes briefly. 

4.  There are no clues in syslog or Xlog.  :( 

5.  Is this one of those instances where removing all gconf stuff
in $HOME is called for?