This was posted some time ago, and I hadn't heard of progress in this area - was hi-res Gnome/Unity/KDE improved recently in 13.04/13.10?
http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/06/what-does-ubuntu-look-like-on-a-retina-display-bad
Are there any good workarounds for Yoga 2 and other Retina displays?