[CentOS] Desktop behaviour - click to raise

My C5, default Gnome desktop has recently changed behaviour, and I can't figure out how to restore the previous behaviour.

Previously, clicking anywhere into a window raised it. Now, for the past few days, only clicking title bar or borders raises them.

I logged off, completely wiped all destop settings, i.e. a whole bunch of .gnome* .gconf* .metacity etc. directories, even restarted X, and logged on again. No change. /apps/metacity/general/raise_on_click is enabled.

The most baffling aspect is that click to raise works exactly as expected in vnc sessions.

Any clues how to pursue this? Am I imagining it because my Linux desktop at home does click to raise? :)