When either the nautilus-based desktop or panel (including any applets) are
in focus, any keyboard input will be passed to the previous window in focus.

For example, as I type this, if I rightclick on a file on my desktop,
select rename, and try to type a new name, the input will go to this
textbox, rather than the file's name field. The same thing happens if I
attempt to type into an command line or dictionary applet embedded into the
panel.

In the event that no applications are open, keyboard input still does not
reach its intended destination.

Keyboard input *does* get passed on to all context menus off of
nautilus/panel, as well as to the menu applets.

Metacity version 2.6.3
Select windows w/ mouseover enabled, no autoraise.

Other product version numbers/preference settings available upon request,
since I can't imagine this being a general case bug when I couldn't find
anything similar in bugzilla.