Xfce 4.4 released

[Wally Balljacker]

http://www.xfce.org/about/news?id=10
http://www.xfce.org/about/tour

Looks like a solid release. I've been using version 4.2 for a couple weeks now, and I'm starting to prefer Xfce. KDE can be a tad much for me at times, and I like the simplicity of GNOME, and Xfce feels kind of like a cross between the two. It's also nice and snappy, and GTK-based, which I prefer.

[allix]

it looks very nice, i tried Xfce 4.4 beta 1 (4.3.90.1) on slackware 10.1 last year, it was really good, but i am glad they fixed the bugs.

the file manager looks 100% better than the older one.

I recently installed Debian because of a hard drive failure and am using the default gnome that comes with desktop environment option during the installer.
I may give xfce a ago again sometime.

[Gomer_X]

Looks like a solid release. I've been using version 4.2 for a couple weeks now, and I'm starting to prefer Xfce. KDE can be a tad much for me at times, and I like the simplicity of GNOME, and Xfce feels kind of like a cross between the two. It's also nice and snappy, and GTK-based, which I prefer.

I like GNOME because the panels go all the way to the edge of the screen. I set up my panels with frequently used things in the 4 corners so I can hit the icons without looking.

Last I used XCFE it's button bar (or whatever it is called) stops a few pixels short of the edge of the screen, completely screwing up usability. If they address this, I'll try it again.

[Vogateer]

XFCE seemed heavier in Xubuntu than I remembered it when I used it in Gentoo. I've read that Xubuntu runs a lot of extra stuff, has anyone experienced this?

They changed the panels recently, support multiple panels out of the box, but I haven't seen if they can extend to the corners. I need to try it out somewhere.

[Gomer_X]

They changed the panels recently, support multiple panels out of the box, but I haven't seen if they can extend to the corners. I need to try it out somewhere.

Even the Windows taskbar goes all the way to the bottom of the screen. It's a pretty basic usability feature. If I ever get motiviated I'll complain to them about fixing it.

Some googling shows the xfce4 panels are supposed to be able to go all the way to corner, but I haven't been able to make it work.

[Vogateer]

i'm surprised I didn't notice that before. I was still trying out several different DEs and WMs at the time, may just not remember it.

I usually prefer to launch applications using something like Katapult, Deskbar, or any other "typing" application, but having those four corners unavailable is a pain no matter how you slice it.

[dann]

Last I used XCFE it's button bar (or whatever it is called) stops a few pixels short of the edge of the screen, completely screwing up usability. If they address this, I'll try it again.

If you read the change logs, Gorkon, you will find that the Developers want nothing to do with you; so stick with Gnome!

[Chess]

I have been using the RC of XFCE 4.4 for a few weeks, and now have the final 4.4 installed and it is seriously sweet. And yes, the panels are easily extendable across the screen. The final release is super fast and really light weight. I believe the source code for the entire XFCE 4.4 desktop is like 40 MB, compared to several hundred MB's each for KDE or GNOME.

I love it.

[Vogateer]

I like the sound of that!

[Wally Balljacker]

I have been using the RC of XFCE 4.4 for a few weeks, and now have the final 4.4 installed and it is seriously sweet. And yes, the panels are easily extendable across the screen. The final release is super fast and really light weight. I believe the source code for the entire XFCE 4.4 desktop is like 40 MB, compared to several hundred MB's each for KDE or GNOME.

I love it.

Chess, did you compile it on Slackware 11? Would you be so kind to throw some packages up on the web? I know I'd really appreciate it.

[Chess]

Wally, I did not compile myself... yes, I know, I took the lazy way out. hehe. On my Slackware box, I used Robby Workman's packages which are very high quality packages. Robby is one of the SlackBuilds.org admins so he knows what he is doing. He also has packages for all the XFCE "goodies." His packages are here:

http://rlworkman.net/pkgs/

Be sure to read his XFCE README, since you also need to grab dbus, gamin, and a couple other packages as well. You also need to create the messagebus user and add a startup script to rc.local. It's easy.

I think Robby also has some SlackBuilds for XFCE 4.4 without dbus enabled if you want to keep it clean.

I am also using XFCE 4.4 on my Arch box since it's available in the current Arch repos.

[Wally Balljacker]

Thanks, I'll take a look at those.

[Wally Balljacker]

Got it installed, and I've gotta say version 4.4 feels even faster than 4.2. I'm also digging the addition of desktop icons, and the new Thunar file manager. Lots of nice little improvements I'm noticing.

[Chess]

I agree. Another nice feature is the xfapplet for the panel. It lets you use any gnome applet in the xfce panel, such as the gnome network manager, beagle search bar, or whatever. Very handy. The new xfce also has built in compositing for transparency and the like, but its featureset is limited when compared to Beryl or compiz. Thunar is an excellent file manager, and with the thunar-volman plugin, it will handle automounting of devices.

[Vogateer]

XFCE has a tough job. Adding features constantly while still trying to stay light. I love the work they do, though, and I'm impressed the have a volume management plugin. Good stuff!