I seem to have the same problem. Compiz hides my bottom panel. It does however not show it if I click in the area, but maximized windows leave this space free. If I right-click on the plain area at the bottom, it behaves in the same way as if I click on the desktop.
I can get the panel back if I reload compiz by running 'compiz --replace'. After that, everything works as expected.
I seem to have the same problem. Compiz hides my bottom panel. It does however not show it if I click in the area, but maximized windows leave this space free. If I right-click on the plain area at the bottom, it behaves in the same way as if I click on the desktop.
I can get the panel back if I reload compiz by running 'compiz --replace'. After that, everything works as expected.