gnome x shutdown needs cancel

[sean <seandarcy2 gmail com>]

I run X with 4 workspaces. If I try to shutdown or reboot, 
often it hangs because it's waiting for a "close or cancel" 
window in another workspace. IOW, I'm in workspace 4. I try 
to shutdown, gedit on workspace 1, displays a window asking 
about saving a new file ( I can see it appear in the 
Wokspace Switcher ). Shutdown hangs, but I can't get to 
workspace 1. The only way out is ctl-alt-backspace.

Maybe kde does it better, and maybe there's some clever 
keystroke combo that would cancel the shutdown, but in IMHO, 
there should be a popup in the active workspace ( or maybe a 
shift to the workspace with the message?).

sean