OSNews: http://www.osnews.com/story/18995/Xfce_4_4_2_Released Exploring the Future of Computing en-us Copyright 2001-2009, David Adams adam+nospam@osnews.com Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:27:32 GMT http://www.osnews.com/images/osnews.gif OSNews.com http://www.osnews.com Kudos for the XFCE developers http://osnews.com/thread?288105 http://osnews.com/thread?288105 It is nice to know that it is out there a light, useful and flexible alternative to the KDE - GNOME duopoly. And it is good to see that it is alive and well.

In fact, XFCE could be thought of as the standard GNU/Linux desktop, since it is included often in both the KDE and the GNOME oriented :-) Mon, 03 Dec 2007 16:55:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Nephelim) Comments Choice is good http://osnews.com/thread?288108 http://osnews.com/thread?288108 And it is even better to see that the projects publish maintenance releases. But I still do not like this desktop environment. May be it still remembers me too much of CDE (which I hated), who knows ! Anyway, I hope the XFCE users enjoy this release. Mon, 03 Dec 2007 17:00:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (shaniadollinger) Comments Curses! http://osnews.com/thread?288111 http://osnews.com/thread?288111 Figures this would happen during the FreeBSD port freeze. Mon, 03 Dec 2007 17:47:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (MattPie) Comments RE: Choice is good http://osnews.com/thread?288112 http://osnews.com/thread?288112 Funny, most of those CDE-like looks and features are exactly why I like XFCE. I would say that's probably true of most XFCE users, whether they are aware of it or not. Mon, 03 Dec 2007 17:49:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (fsckit) Comments RE: Choice is good http://osnews.com/thread?288113 http://osnews.com/thread?288113 I suspect you haven't tried Xfce in a while. While the Xfce 3 series was very much a clone of CDE, the 4 series has been rewritten from the ground up, and has sort of gone its own way. I use Xfce regularly, and notice very few similarities with CDE.

It is also not fair to call it a lightweight Gnome-clone, because it is so incredibly configurable. I used it for a long time with no panels whatsoever, due to the highly functional middle-click desktop-and-application switching feature. But in any case, it is very simple to change it to a basic Windows/Gnomish start/quicklaunch/taskbar/notification/clock configuration. Mon, 03 Dec 2007 17:56:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (nonesuch) Comments Dust to dust ... http://osnews.com/thread?288114 http://osnews.com/thread?288114 ... ashes to ashes, and window managers and desktop environments to choose among them all :-) Mon, 03 Dec 2007 17:58:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (shaniadollinger) Comments RE[2]: Choice is good http://osnews.com/thread?288115 http://osnews.com/thread?288115 >I suspect you haven't tried Xfce in a while. While the
>Xfce 3 series was very much a clone of CDE, the 4 series
>has been rewritten from the ground up, and has sort of
>gone its own way. I use Xfce regularly, and notice very
>few similarities with CDE.

It still remembers me of those days. I'm not saying at all that it is a bad piece of software, or telling anyone to dislike it. Each of us have our preferences and I am happy that there are choices for all of us. Mon, 03 Dec 2007 17:59:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (shaniadollinger) Comments RE: Choice is good http://osnews.com/thread?288117 http://osnews.com/thread?288117 Xfce can be pretty much configured to look like anything, windows, gnome, mac or something custom (within limits of course). And its window manager can even utilise compositing to draw shadows and translucent windows! It does not remind me of CDE much personally. Mon, 03 Dec 2007 18:06:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (unavowed) Comments Awesome News http://osnews.com/thread?288121 http://osnews.com/thread?288121 I been running XFCE 4.4 since the day it went gold and its rock stable. But bug fixes are always good to have. Will compile this tonight. Mon, 03 Dec 2007 18:18:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (siimo) Comments RE: Kudos for the XFCE developers http://osnews.com/thread?288125 http://osnews.com/thread?288125 alternative to the KDE - GNOME duopoly

You just made me realize how obscure of a setup I'm running.

If Linux is the alternative to the Windows - OSX duopoly, and I'm running Xfce under Linux...then I'm running an alternative WM on an alternative OS.

Perhaps a little too obscure. Mon, 03 Dec 2007 18:38:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (FunkyELF) Comments RE[2]: Kudos for the XFCE developers http://osnews.com/thread?288128 http://osnews.com/thread?288128 You just made me realize how obscure of a setup I'm running.

If Linux is the alternative to the Windows - OSX duopoly, and I'm running Xfce under Linux...then I'm running an alternative WM on an alternative OS.

Perhaps a little too obscure.

Awww... You're not so far away from mainstream as you think. If you said that you were one of those guys still running XFree86 on top of GNU/Darwin and using ion or ratpoison as your window manager then yes, I'd agree that you're pretty much struggling to not fit in. XDEdited 2007-12-03 19:19 Mon, 03 Dec 2007 19:18:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (DeadFishMan) Comments lightweight and flexible http://osnews.com/thread?288138 http://osnews.com/thread?288138 I intend to yum update this version as soon as it hits the repos. I have been using XFCE 4.4 and I love it. I think the great thing about desktops that run on Linux is the way you can mix and match components. I like XFCE but I prefer Gnome's panel so I run that instead. It is nice to be able to select which components you want to run to take advantage of memory saving and speed. Thunar is also a very nice file manager without the Nautilus bloat. Mon, 03 Dec 2007 20:27:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (buff) Comments Composite manager http://osnews.com/thread?288148 http://osnews.com/thread?288148 What I especially like is that XFCE's composite manager for decent shadows and transparency also works with the generic vesa driver!
As far as I know it is the only window-manager that supports this feature.

From the documentation:
xfwm4 includes its own compositing manager, which takes advantage of the new X.org's server extensions. The compositor is like a WM on its own, it manages a stack of all windows, monitor all kinds on X event and reacts accordingly. Having the compositing manager embedded in the window manager also helps keeping the various visual effects in sync with window events. If you want to use the compositor, you have to build xfwm4 using the --enable-compositor configure option. In any case, you can disable the compositor on xfwm4 startup using the '--compositor=off' argument. Mon, 03 Dec 2007 21:28:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (dwave) Comments RE[3]: Kudos for the XFCE developers http://osnews.com/thread?288164 http://osnews.com/thread?288164 I wouldn't really place OSX in the monopoly field of Windows' market share. According to OSWeekly Apple's market share for the OS is actually decreasing. "OS X market share fell from 4.35 percent in December 2005 to 4.33 percent in August 2006." I don't know what the latest stats are but 4.33 and decreasing is not a monopoly. It is more of a niche OS, no disrespect intended OSX users.Edited 2007-12-03 22:31 Mon, 03 Dec 2007 22:30:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (buff) Comments RE[2]: Choice is good http://osnews.com/thread?288172 http://osnews.com/thread?288172 The only CDE holdovers I've noticed is that last time I used it (around when 4.4 came out) it still defaulted to a centered panel taking up part of the screen on the bottom, and had panel "drawers" that didn't automatically close on you.

I still actually kinda miss the 4.0 behavior where the size of the taskbar button was completely relative to the number of tasks opened... With one open, it would take up the entire screen. That was changed in 4.2 Mon, 03 Dec 2007 22:49:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (DigitalAxis) Comments RE[4]: Kudos for the XFCE developers http://osnews.com/thread?288184 http://osnews.com/thread?288184 It's up quite a bit actually.

http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2007/12/03/new-high-for-m... Tue, 04 Dec 2007 00:13:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (DevL) Comments RE[4]: Kudos for the XFCE developers http://osnews.com/thread?288185 http://osnews.com/thread?288185
4.33 and decreasing is not a monopoly.


It is if you stop to think how much money those 4.33 make Apple and that they're high-end consumers. In the luxury end of the personal computer market, OS X is quite the monopoly. Tue, 04 Dec 2007 00:28:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (wirespot) Comments RE[3]: Choice is good http://osnews.com/thread?288188 http://osnews.com/thread?288188 There's also the "minimize app to desktop icon" that Gnome and KDE are sorely missing. Tue, 04 Dec 2007 01:50:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (fsckit) Comments XFCE = excellent option for older hardware http://osnews.com/thread?288206 http://osnews.com/thread?288206 My work colleagues run a highly customised fvwm, which is a little too hardcore for me ;)

I opted for XFCE when I started working at my current company.

My Linux dev box is an old PIII with a 16mb graphics card and XFCE runs great.

I originally had Gnome on the box, which was just too slow.

When it comes to productivity, a responsive desktop is of major importance - and eye-candy really is a waste of time.

XFCE delivers. Tue, 04 Dec 2007 07:21:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (bb_matt) Comments Xfce is not alternative http://osnews.com/thread?288223 http://osnews.com/thread?288223 Gnome and KDE are the alternative. If you don't like speed, simplicity and well design desktop, maybe you could try Gnome or KDE. Both desktops provide you with a unique experience that you can't find with Xfce (long greatings, lot of complicated ways to do the same thing, confusing menus and sub-menus, inconsistant bars and very much fun). KDE and Gnome are fuzzy alternatives if you like that. Tue, 04 Dec 2007 10:04:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (agrouf) Comments I like it http://osnews.com/thread?288227 http://osnews.com/thread?288227 The more I use Xfce the more I like it. And the way it handles minimized windows in the desktop, like CDE does, is far more usable than having a list of opened windows or any other alternative I have seen.

Is fast, beauty, stable, usable, simple, light, ... everything I want for a DE.

The only thing I miss, ... drive icons in the desktop when using minimized windows icons.Edited 2007-12-04 10:31 Tue, 04 Dec 2007 10:29:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (ktuludawn) Comments RE[4]: Choice is good http://osnews.com/thread?288232 http://osnews.com/thread?288232 No desktop icons for me, but I just love the iconbox panel applet. Leaving all your pdf's, cbr's and all other stuff sitting there just a click away is really nice. Tue, 04 Dec 2007 10:44:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (carreirabr) Comments RE[3]: Kudos for the XFCE developers http://osnews.com/thread?288314 http://osnews.com/thread?288314
Awww... You're not so far away from mainstream as you think. If you said that you were one of those guys still running XFree86 on top of GNU/Darwin and using ion or ratpoison as your window manager then yes, I'd agree that you're pretty much struggling to not fit in. XD


That could be more due to laziness than an active attempt not to fit in.

Now if you insisted on running OpenBSD on an Apollo, CLI-only, and only wrote F77 and assembler using ed on a remote greenscreen WYSE terminal in your closet while wearing women's lingerie and a velvet cape. Then, I might be mildly impressed.Edited 2007-12-04 15:55 Tue, 04 Dec 2007 15:54:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (bm3719) Comments RE[4]: Kudos for the XFCE developers http://osnews.com/thread?288317 http://osnews.com/thread?288317 LOL! That just made me shoot coffee out of my nose! Tue, 04 Dec 2007 16:13:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (iron_chef) Comments Productivity - that's where it's at with XFCE http://osnews.com/thread?288366 http://osnews.com/thread?288366 Related to my previous comment, what XFCE delivers is the simple fact that you can pretty much ignore the Desktop and just get on with work - it's that simple.

There's no flash whiz FX, no compiz, wobbly windows, 3D desktop changing - iow, no fluff.

Yes, those things are cool - cool for about 5 minutes, after which you find yourself wondering, why?

Do they enhance the UI in any way?
Do they increase your productivity?
Or do they just slow down the process of getting from A to B in the shortest time?

9 times out of 10, it's the latter.

If I want to switch between virtual desktops, I want to switch NOW, I don't want to see an effect that takes 2 seconds to play out.

Yes, I tinker with different desktops, because I find UID interesting (I'm a web developer), but to get my work done all that matters is speed, simplicity and continuity.

XFCE has it's problems, it's not perfect, but I vastly prefer it to Gnome or KDE because it focuses on the tasks at hand.

I don't need a multitude of menus and configuration options, I simply need a launchpad for the applications I use on a day to day basis. Tue, 04 Dec 2007 18:58:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (bb_matt) Comments More developers would help http://osnews.com/thread?288380 http://osnews.com/thread?288380 XFce is great. I'm using it even now. I only hope that the Xfce project could get more developers. Their developer team is very, very small when compared to GNOME or KDE. I hope that competent programmers who like Xfce would also support it more in one way or other. I'm not sure but maybe Xfce could also market itself a bit more to potential users, and developers - as long as that would not mean taking away from development resources.

If they had more resources and developers, this desktop environment could really shine. Not saying that it wouldn't be very good even now ;) Edited 2007-12-04 20:07 Tue, 04 Dec 2007 20:05:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (irbis) Comments RE: Productivity - that's where it's at with XFCE http://osnews.com/thread?288559 http://osnews.com/thread?288559 compiz works on XFCE.
I like cool looking desktop and I use xfce.
You can do anything with xfce. You can configure it so as to look exactly like gnome or kde. You can even start kde or gnome daemons at boot. To me, the difference is clean design. KDE and Gnome are so big progect that they tend to over-engeneer. Why the hell do you need CORBA to change the color of the background? It's just extreme over-engeneering. XFCE implements all the functionalities with straight design and the result is that it is consistant, fast, reliable and simple to use. Tue, 04 Dec 2007 23:44:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (agrouf) Comments RE: Curses! http://osnews.com/thread?288762 http://osnews.com/thread?288762 Yours is the only comment that appears to have been based on the article, noting something about the new bugfix release rather than a xfce popularity poll. Wed, 05 Dec 2007 12:58:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (libray) Comments