I've written a somewhat in-depth review of the Budgie desktop, focusing on setup and configuration, look and feel, fonts, ergonomics, customization, everyday use, unique features, various problems. All that and more in my latest OCS-Mag article. Have fun, fun, fun. http://www.ocsmag.com/2017/08/31/budgie-desktop-you-shall-not-pass/ Cheers, Mrk
The appearance is a lot like Mac OSX from which it draws its visual cues and overall inspiration. An easy to use desktop without all the teething problems of GNOME and that just gets out of the way to let users run a desktop. FWIW, Mrk - it is available in its own Ubuntu flavor - Ubuntu Budgie.
The top panel and the plank dock. That's also found in Elementary OS. There is a family resemblance in UNIX systems.
The last time I tried it you could move the panel to the bottom but it wouldn't autohide unfortunately. Other than that, which for me is a must, I thought it was really solid. That was maybe a year ago using Solus.