It’s been in development for over 4 years, but this weekend finally saw the long-awaited release of Xfce 4.14.
Xfce 4.14 is the latest stable version of this lightweight desktop environment, and sees all core components ported to GTK3, most gain GObject introspection support, and everything else benefit from refinement and bug fixes.
For instance, the window manager xfwm4 now supports Vsync, works better with HIDPI monitors, and leverages XInput2. It also boasts better integration with proprietary Nvidia drivers, and sports a new default theme.
There’s an improved tasklist plugin available for the Xfce panel utility, now sporting grouped window indicator. This joins a new per-panel “icon-size” setting and a new default clock format.
Elsewhere xfce4-session, the session manager, now lets users add and edit autostart entries; surfaces a ‘switch user’ button in the logout dialog; and the session selector benefits from some miscellaneous improvements.
The Thunar file manager boasts a restyled path-bar, support for larger file/folder thumbnails, and improved keyboard navigation.
Xfce 4.14 also includes, for the first time, a native screensaver in the shape of xfce4-screensaver.
Other notable changes and features in Xfce 4.14 include:
- New colour profile manager
- Ability to save multi-display configs
- Hidden support RandR display scaling
- Battery plugin can show remaining time and/or %
- “Do Not Disturb” mode
- New “missed notifications” panel plugin
- Option to set desktop wallpaper from Ristretto image viewer
- Improved screenshot utility, including imgur upload
- MPRIS2 support in PulseAudio panel plugin
You can find a complete changelog for this release on the Xfce wiki.
How to Get Xfce 4.14
Unlike application upgrades it’s generally speaking a bit trickier to “get” new releases of entire desktop environments due to so many components being involved.
Xfce 4.14 will form the basis of Xubuntu 19.10, which due for release in October.
But you’re not out of options if you want to try it before then.
It’s possible to test Xfce 4.14 without affecting your current set-up by using DockerHub or a traditional virtual machine image.
Additionally, many rolling release distributions, including Arch and Manjaro, will make this update available in the coming days.
Image credit: Xfce