The Xfce Team is pleased to announce the availability of Xfce 4.2.0, the next major version of the Xfce Desktop Environment and Development Framework for Unix and Unix-like platforms.Xfce 4.2.0 can be downloaded here.
Xfce 4.2.0 includes new applications like a session manager and an
application finder, a new and beautiful icon theme, support for
bleeding-edge features (like the X.org Composite extension), usability
and performance improvements, better support for multihead desktops,
new and updated translations, additional themes, and various other
improvements over the previous stable releases. See this
page for a complete list
of changes between Xfce 4.0 and Xfce 4.2.
Furthermore, Xfce 4.2 is the first desktop environment to ship with an
easy-to-use and platform-independent graphical installation wizard,
which takes care of compiling and installing Xfce on your system.
Visit the os-cillation
installers website for download links and instructions.
If you want to try Xfce 4.2.0 first, without installing anything
on your system, you might want to try the Xfce Live Demo 0.2, provided by os-cillation,
to discover the power and efficiency of Xfce.
A short trailer that introduces Xfce 4.2.0 is available in
high- and low-bandwidth versions here.
I have just finished compiling 4.2RC3
. I’ll compile 4.2 now 
Glad to see 4.2 out!
Was anybody else expecting a video of it actually being used? It’s actually just a series of screenshots put to music and Hollywood-esque melodramatic titles …
the trailer (in wmv!) really sucks.
For Debian (Testing), use this repository:
deb http://www.os-works.com/debian testing main
deb-src http://www.os-works.com/debian testing main
ROX-Filer 2.1.5, a fast, light and full-featured GTK+2 file manager, has also been released yesterday [1]. ROX-Filer works great with XFCE (as it is based on GTK+2 like XFCE) and allows you (among other things) to have desktop icons with XFCE (just kill xfdesktop, start rox -p xfce and save your session). A must have
[1] http://rox.sourceforge.net/phpwiki/index.php/ROX-Filer
Yeah I was expecting it to see it being used also. I found the trailer quite funny though. Like they were trying very hard,
to be very serious.
That being said I’m downloading the live cd. I’ve been impressed with xfce in the past and I expect this release to be no different.
I use unstable and I know you can mix sources but I normally don’t like to do that. Is this just a quick fix, until 4.2 is in stable? And once it’s is, is it ok to leave this one until the next xfce update or should one remove the one from testing and install the one available in sid?
If you’re using unstable, and you don’t have xfce-4.2 in your regular repository, use the link and change it appropriately (testing->unstable).
For unstable users, its suggested to use APT pinning to be sure that APT does what you want. See the explanations on the Debian Repository Page:
http://os-works.com/view/debian/
HTH,
Benedikt
The wallpaper looks like a blurred version of “Apple Jaguar Blue” desktop that ships with all versions of OS X after 10.2…..with the addition of a little rodent.
http://de.lunar-linux.org/xfce4/screenshots/snap_I.jpg
I’m not an XFCE user, but I’ve experimented with it and also with ROX in the near past. If the general consensus is that ROX filer is better than xffm, why not declaring it as the default XFCE file manager and keeping xffm as a xcommander file manager for those who like that sort of GUI?
rehdon
GREAT! Another desktop framework. Aren’t there enough already (KDE, GNOME, GNUstep, Enlightenment…)?
fyi, the first versions of the trailer used the Carmina Burana as the background music. really impressive. But due to copyright/legal issues we decided to use other 100% free music.
From the changes list:
The panel is now a dock type window, which means it will always be on top.
If this means that that the xfce panel will always stay on top, hiding part of application windows, then it’s a stupid idea. And, no, transparency or autohiding won’t be acceptable solutions. Is there some config file where I can disable this new “feature” altogether?
This is the only GTK+ based DE/WM I like! It does what it advertizes and it is fast, even if redraws are slow.
Best of all, it is really clean, but not devoid of all useful features. Good job!
I actually like the video, even with the Krafwerk like music.
It was actually a lot of fun…. You have to love the name, the 4.2.0 release.
Anyone know, who made the music? Song? Author?
Seriously. It was completely worthless. It was just screen shots. If they have vid caps of the screen that would’ve been much better, but like this it’s like looking at the screen shots on the website, only they don’t stick around long enough for you to see.
Oh well. I do like XFCE. That was just a bad form of advertisement.
>If this means that that the xfce panel will always stay on >top, hiding part of application windows, then it’s a stupid >idea. And, no, transparency or autohiding won’t be >acceptable solutions.
Not only that, it pushes applications off the desktop
if a part of a window touches the panel.
>Is there some config file where I can disable this new >”feature” altogether?
That de I really like to know also.
I think Xfce is better than the original CDE but CDE was and horrible desktop and a reason why Unix never was better like desktop.
KDE and Gnome are much better desktops IMHO.
are up and down and up and down on the panel. It reminds me on my skiing day today 🙂
for example:
http://de.lunar-linux.org/xfce4/screenshots/2005-01-09-223724_1600x…
it’s not very professional (like my skiing experience;), imho
very nice theme!
what a pity gnome doesn’t ship a nice default theme just because guys there can’t make an agreement about how it should look
pete wrote: GREAT! Another desktop framework. Aren’t there enough already (KDE, GNOME, GNUstep, Enlightenment…)?
You say this as if this is the very first version of XFCE, it’s been around for ages.
Quote: “GREAT! Another desktop framework. Aren’t there enough already (KDE, GNOME, GNUstep, Enlightenment…)?”
XFCE is a fine desktop and has been around for quite a while. It does a lot of things right – great themes, browsing samba shares just works. It’s stable. It’s lightweight, and it’s fast.
The only drawbacks (and these don’t stop me from using it from time to time) are the icons could be done better and the lack of desktop icons. If they fixed those two things i’d more than likely switch from KDE.
Dave
That because you have added a ‘menu’ to each icon. Either you decide to take the menu away by choosing properties on each icon and the deselct “add menu to….” or you open up the Settings, choose panel, then “Popup position” and choose “right”.
— Vecchio
Wtf? What’s with the wmv format for the trailer? Is mpg or avi not good enough?
You can use something like rox to get desktop icons, if it suits you. And you can use whatever icons you’d like.
You say this as if this is the very first version of XFCE, it’s been around for ages.
I’m talking about the FRAMEWORK, not WM, filemanager, panel etc.! There wasn’t a development FRAMEWORK at the beginning!
Select “auto hide”…
It’s a very promising GUI.
> I think it should be “adopted” by Novell, Red Hat etc.
it’s adopted by HP now:
http://osnews.com/story.php?news_id=8398
>it’s adopted by HP now:
http://osnews.com/story.php?news_id=8398
That’s good news.
”
Best of all, it is really clean, but not devoid of all useful features. Good job!
”
Thank you!! I’ msorry but the cires of “bloat bloat bloat” get annoying. XFCE features its features well. Its not wehther Gnome has the ability to time your ndishwasher, its HOW the interface is.
Alright! I love XFCE, it seems faster than ever, and it looks great too, great job Oliver! ^_^ Personally I think that XFCE is a great replacement for Gnome, or KDE, and with the addition of a nice rox –pinboard= and rox session, a fully featured and kickass desktop, IMHO.
</2cents>
But I don’t know how it will work out. Gotta give it a try later…
I was wondering if this version has the utopia stuff included, like in gnome 2.8.
In other words, when I stick an USBstick in my computer, will I see an icon on the desktop if I’m using xfce 4.2?
XFCE doesn’t have desktop icons.
To be serious, no. XFFM doesn’t have any DBUS support built-in. But I’m sure it’s high on their list.
I installed it with the debian repository about a haf an hour ago. XFCE + the gnome Wasp theme = true love
Just installed the new version…. It’s so nice!!!!!! If you haven’t checked it out yet you definately should. I just wish they had some project Utopia support….
I like the xffm most…
I like xffm as well. I find it much more usable then nautilus. <insert rant about bloat>.
I’m hoping they’ll stay away from HAL. From what I hear it is still linux only (last I checked, late last year) and quite difficult to port to other free os like the BSDs
As in the following post ( http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-ports/2004-September/016… ):
I agree, and this has been heavily discussed on freebsd-gnome@ and #freebsd-gnome on Freenode. HAL is very Linux 2.6-centric right now.
I’ve gone through the some of the code, and implementing it will be a challenge.
As I like to use Xfce on FreeBSD and DragonFly I hope the devs will keep it as portable as possible (100% of features on all supported platforms)
i know if anyone is trying to compile the sourcecode on a slackware box it will be asking for iceauth as if it can not find it, it is in /usr/X11/bin & /usr/X11R6/bin i was not sure how to tell ./configure that so i made a symlink to iceauth in /usr/bin and it compiled lmao (sounds like a dirty way to do it, but it worked) :^P
You have to compile as the user currently in X in order for it to find iceauth.
I fail to see the significance… Maybe on lower end machines, sacrificing usability for a silly DE (DesktopLESS Enviro.) is a big deal, but I really think the Open Source Dev. Community is not always doing much good by fracturing their skills…
Why not just embrace and improve existing projects (kde/gnome)?
Sacrificing usability? Now that shows me some serious lack of knowledge. How much “usability” does one need? XFCE4 does exactly what many users actually WANT. So what? Seemingly, it has just enough usability to keep people cheering. Even on high-end machines. Let’s put it that way: KDE and GNOME tend to annoy people because of things they will never use and find it a pain to turn it off manually.
XFCE4 comes with usable defaults, is feature-rich, good looking and, that’s a big one, even on fast machines faster than the big DEs. And not to forget that it uses advanced techniques (composition manager springs to mind; not to forget Xinerama) and adheres to the freedesktop-guidelines.
Why not just embrace and improve KDE or GNOME? Because both of them have already skilled development-teams but most of the XFCE4-Users and Devs are just NOT satisfied with GNOME or KDE. Not because it offers not enough functionality but because it offers too much of that. They don’t want that (and besides: many people want a DE that just works) and so they chose to make something other than that.
You know, that’s the great thing about Open-Source: you can chose which way to go.
> I didn’t just diss you family did I?
Nope, you didn’t. But after all, putting down XFCE just because it “sacrifices” ( sacrifice would imply that it’s actually painful to do so, but of course, it isn’t
) features you know from KDE or GNOME just isn’t wise. *shrugs* Like i said: the great thing about Open-Source etc. pp. :]
Settle down now, nobody is laughing at anyone. They may be sorrowful thanks to your intolerance, but nobody is laughing.
Are you looking at a bobcat right now? Does that mean they don’t exist? Your perception is your own, but that gives you no right to deny people of theirs. People don’t generally spend time on things unless they see a need. I know it’s difficult to have faith in your fellow humans these days, but one of the nice things about OSS is you generally can.
I got excited and almost went to download XFCE.
Then I noticed the trailer link and went to see it.
To my astonishment, the “trailer” is in WMV format!
What an insult! Why not use xvid or divx?! Even just simple screenshots would be better than that Windows abomination.
And the “trailer” gets two big thumbs down!
It’s a freaking sequence of fast changing screenshots. Like someone waves a page fast in front of your eyes and says “see!”
One would have to watch the “trailer” thousand times before being able to notice any detail.
Simon Meurer please go buy a clue, new brain, whatever!
So I decided to pass on XFCE for now.
How could I trust a project that has such clueless people behind it?
XFCE will probably turn all my mp3 files into DRM protected WMA files and convert all my xvid videos into WMV files playable only 3 times and after that they will get deleted.
No thanks!
I use XFCE4 sometimes with my quite powerful (2600+, 512Mb) machine, because usually it’s vital for me to have the power somewhere else than in the desktop. And the simple environment is sometimes a lot faster to work with, too. I use extremely bloated KDE (I mean I’ve bloated it) most of the time, because I want to take advantage of the power I have even when I’m doing simple things, but when I do need the power somewhere else, it’s KISS environment I prefer.
Thks! Something to laugh’s really welcome to better start the day… :rolleyes:
(sorry everyone else, couldn’t resist this one…)
RE:Why not just embrace and improve existing projects (kde/gnome)?
what i would like to see is KDE continue doing what they do best and that is develop KDE…
Gnome on the otherhand should just abandon the Gnome desktop, and concentrate on doing what they do best and that is building GTK based applications, besides KDE/QT GTK is the only engine for applications and there have been many great apps that just sort of fell by the wayside. i would like to see GnomeFiles be the best place on the internet for people to find apps, and what about some templates for OpenOffice, i made one once but it made sales recipts look like they got run over by a truck so i deleted it and make em as i need em now…
http://de.lunar-linux.org/xfce4/screenshots/2005-01-09-223724_1600x…
Can any1 drop me a line, what desktop desklet is that on the screenshot (upper right corner). I want this!
It’s torsmo.
http://torsmo.sourceforge.net/
…with announcing every *damn* XFCE major/minor release!
BORING!
xfce is the hottest thing in Linux desktops, it went from being just another light WM like all the others to being probably #2 or #3 and it may overtake Gnome before 2005 is over putting it in the #2 slot right next to KDE kicking Gnome out of the #2 spot…
XFCE takes exactly what I like from gnome and strips out the rest. It’s minimalistic but has everything I want in a DE.
Oh and if you’re not a fan of rox, nautilus works just fine though it will start up more slowly.
I is simple, fast and powerful.
>Typo ” *It* is simple, fast and powerful”.
Not as simple, fast, or powerful as IceWM or Fluxbox. Why suffer with useless bloat and a worthless dock?
Not as simple, fast, or powerful as IceWM or Fluxbox. Why suffer with useless bloat and a worthless dock?
IceWM and Fluxbox are just Window Managers and XFCE is a Desktop Enviroment, and how are they more powerful though I will give you the simple and fast as they do less. If you prefer them, by all means use them, but I don’t like them and I like XFCE so I use it, simple as that.
XFCE was a really small proyect 2 years ago and now has plenty of users, nice to see it success.
Because IceWM looks ugly (like a LADA) and with Fluxbox you don’t know where to start, because it’s panel hasn’t got a start button (feels like a car with no wheel).
I think XFCE is the third GUI after KDE and Gnome which is comparable to MS Windows or MacOSx.
XFCE is a bit more than a framework. While in principle – I agree with you- having too many frameworks makes life confusing, XFCE is aimed at another group entirely.
Its purpose is to give non-linux people a way in. Most people who arent techies generally cant find menu items if they are in a slightly different place, and it is really for that very reason they stick with Windows. XFCE is a possible way out of that.
Except (how I wish I could go back and remove it) – I was talking about XPDE. So therefore – XFCE is yet another framework and desktop, where KDE and Gnome already provide mroe than enough alternatives.
omg… I simply can’t understand how someone can talk of bloat in regard of XFCE. Did you try it, or you just love to see your nick and part of IP here and can’t stay without leaving a comment?
Linux is all about choice, whats best for your tastes/needs. If someone doesn’t like using one WM/DE in Linux, they can always use another one. No WM/DE will ever be liked 100% by everyone, no matter how hard the developers try. All they can do is put out what they feel is good and let the user decide.
The real problem, however, is that there are so many non technical users used to using Windows that are just now becoming aware of alternatives. The current WM/DE have to start catering to these users if Linux is to succeed as a desktop. An end user is easily overwhelmed by choice in a new environment and they normally don’t care how anything works, just that it does. They need a WM/DE that is very easy to configure and still has that same familiar feel to it that they have had for years. The technical users that like to setup everything won’t like it much, but it’s a necessary evil if we want Linux to be widely accepted as a place were users of all levels can feel comfortable.
Xfce is starting to have that look/feel and is easy to configure. The goal, after all, is to pry as many people away from Windows as we can, right? We have to start somewhere and Xfce 4.2 is definitely a start in the right direction.
I tried it, and liked it. Pretty good.
Their explanation for the WMV choice was really poor – they said MPEG was too large and QuickTime was not well supported. This means that they have no idea that by far the no. 1 video compression in terms of quality/size ratio, popularity and availability/accessibility in modern free/open-source applications and operating systems is MPEG-4, for which there are notoriously famous open-source MPEG-4 codecs available – FFmpeg MPEG-4 (built-in in most *NIX video apps including MPlayer and xine) and XviD. Almost everyone knows and uses AVI/MPEG-4, so it’s incredible that the Xfce people have no idea it exists and choose proprietary Microsoft format instead.
GREAT! Another desktop framework. Aren’t there enough already (KDE, GNOME, GNUstep, Enlightenment…)?
I read this and saw it echoed throughout the posts…
But…
XFCE4 is based on GTK2, just like GNOME. It isn’t another framework (which I take to mean development platform), it’s a DE.
And a damn fine one. All the things I like from GNOME, only much faster. Sexy.
The question has been asked several times before, but no one has provided the answer….so,
<bold>How do you pronounce XFCE ?</bold>
thanks.
I imagine you just pronounce the letters…that’s how I always did it.
Ecks eff see eee
:-p