GNOME 2.26 is the latest version of the GNOME Desktop: a popular, multi-platform desktop environment for your computer. GNOME’s focus is ease of use, stability, and first class internationalisation and accessibility support. GNOME is Free and Open Source Software and provides all of the common tools computer users expect of a modern computing environment, such as e-mail, groupware, web browsing, file management, multimedia, and games. Furthermore, GNOME provides a flexible and powerful platform for software developers, both on the desktop and in mobile applications. Source: gnome.org

Anyone who uses Linux as their operating system and use the Gnome window manager will surely appreciate some of the new features:

• Comprehensive New Disc Burning
  Simpler File Sharing
  Evolution Evolves its Migration from Windows
  Media Player Improvements
  Volume Control Integrated with PulseAudio
  Support for multiple monitors and projectors
  Almost Telepathic Communication
  Location Epiphany
  Fingerprint Reader Integration

If you wish to install the latest version of GNOME on your machine, please follow this link. There are a number of ways to do it, I recommend just updating it through your package manager on the OS you use, but you can install from source, tarball or even demo it off the LiveCD these days!