This is very subjective matter and any of us would like our own customized desktop. You probably organize your workspace in a different way than I do. I associate virtual desktops with customers on my Linux machine plus one for me. (Those should be workspaces on a Mac.) I have one terminal open in every desktop, one editor window in every desktop, one Firefox window in every desktop plus whatever I need for a given customer. I really don't want to alt tab to windows in a different desktop. It has no purpose in my setup because I want to stay within the boundaries of the customer I'm working for. I'm pretty sure this is the default behavior but I can bet there is a way to tweak it. Plenty of extensions to customize the GNOME desktop.