XFCE release 4.12 brings refinement and improvements

in linux on 2015-03-03 20:05 (#47JH)

After 2 years and 10 months, XFCE 4.12 has been released, and its changelog is an impressive list of refinements, improvements, and new features.

For starters, they've streamlined the code, removing a whole host of options the developers decided were no longer the best way to accomplish common tasks. The minimize/maximize buttons are gone now, and all apps run full-screen all the time. You can access a subset of options via keystroke combinations (sadly, these haven't been documented yet but they should be obvious).

Oh wait, just kidding. Must have been thinking about some other desktop environment there. Seriously, have a look at the user-friendly improvements the XFCE team has worked into this release.

Check out the link for a multiple-page change log of significant features, including improvements to alt-tab dialogues, panel features, usage with multiple monitors, a move to GTK3, and more. XFCE remains independent of Linux-specific system features, and instead designed a front-end/back-end approach that allows it to work equally well on Linux, the BSDs, and beyond. As a BSD-user, I'm immensely proud. Finally, note throughout the press release the number of times they mention listening to their users and implementing the features that users said they wanted. More than one other major project could benefit from a similar approach to working with its community.

[Edit 2015-03-02 22:25 There was a very important "just kidding" sentence between paragraphs 2 and 3 that was important, because paragraph 2 is a joke. I've re-added it; otherwise I would expect to be flamed alive by angry XFCEers wondering why i'm such an idiot].

Yay (Score: 1)

by nightsky30@pipedot.org on 2015-03-03 21:54 (#47QS)

I'm looking forward to trying this out. I'm currently running Xubuntu 14.04, but would like to upgrade when they finally add it to a future release. Looks like Xubuntu 15.04 is using XFCE 4.11.2 :(

Crying (Score: 2, Funny)

by axsdenied@pipedot.org on 2015-03-04 05:04 (#48A0)

Damn, you almost had me crying before I got to the 3rd paragraph...

Re: Crying (Score: 2, Interesting)

by zafiro17@pipedot.org on 2015-03-04 12:23 (#48YJ)

Glad I had a chance to edit the summary and make sure everyone recognizes the intro was a tongue-in-cheek slam at some other DE. Seriously, the new XFCE looks great, and I love the idea you can configure Alt-Tab to do things other than the traditional way - I like the vertical list of full title apps (there was another DE that did it this way but I can't remember which anymore). At this point in the evolution of desktop environments, we don't need radical changes in metaphor, just refinements in usability and convenience. That seems to be exactly what the XFCE team is doing.

Check out the language in their press release, too. It's clear they're making a huge effort to listen to their users and find out where the pain points are: it's a radical concept in software development (listening to the users and applying fixes as relevant). I wish others did it too.

Looks like a good looking desktop experience. I'm looking forward to checking it out - might even encourage me to give LXDE a rest for a while (until LXQT comes out, anyway). At this point, I'd say XFCE is leading the race in traditional desktop environment usability, and it's not clear to me what "extra" you get by installing something like a full-on Gnome3 or Unity install. For all that extra storage and all the additional memory required, it's not clear to me what you gain by way of usability or convenience. This is what was forgotten like a year ago. More is not better, dorkwad developers!

Re: Crying (Score: 2, Interesting)

by hapnstance@pipedot.org on 2015-03-04 13:41 (#490W)

" we don't need radical changes in metaphor, just refinements in usability and convenience"

" It's clear they're making a huge effort to listen to their users and find out where the pain points are: it's a radical concept in software development (listening to the users and applying fixes as relevant). I wish others did it too."

And these are the reasons why I switched from FireFox to Pale Moon for my daily browser. You are correct; more projects need to do this but I think this *is* coming. I think there are slowly but surely going to be forks of good projects who have lost their way and have gone down that "changes in metaphor" road. The forks will try to restore the sanity and they will gain a following.

Re: Crying (Score: 1)

by billshooterofbul@pipedot.org on 2015-03-04 19:03 (#49N3)

Eh, technophobic technophiles. Trying new approaches are good, IMHO, but I understand the desire to keep the current work flow that works well for you. I'm both glad that gnome and KDE are going crazy new places, and that xfce is still here to have as a fall back.

Seriously, Gnome3 is pretty sweet. I understand why they've done what they've done. Its kind of like switching to a functional programming language. Its a breath of fresh air. A new way to do things, but we still need the older iterative/procedural approach in some cases too.

Re: Crying (Score: 1)

by morgan@pipedot.org on 2015-03-05 16:20 (#4BK1)

I still haven't decided if I like Mate better than Xfce, but I have a feeling I'll like what Xfce 4.12 has to offer. I used Gnome a good bit back in the 2.x days, then it was cut out of Slackware and I switched between Xfce, Fluxbox, and Window Maker for a while. I don't need fancy effects and such in GNU/Linux, I just need a sensible menu and proper window management (thank the gods for Xfce's focus-stealing prevention).

I kind of liked Gnome 3 around 3.6, but since then it seems to have regressed rather than innovated. I've never liked KDE, though I'll acknowledge they have made some striking improvements lately. Still, it comes off as a Windows 7/OS X hybrid clone more than anything.

Re: Crying (Score: 1)

by billshooterofbul@pipedot.org on 2015-03-06 00:19 (#4C8K)

But they were both out before windows 7. KDE can be configured to be a os x clone, but that speaks more to its configurability than anything else. You could make it work like XFCE, if you wanted as well.

Re: Crying (Score: 1)

by morgan@pipedot.org on 2015-03-07 03:10 (#4ED0)

What I'm referring to is how much KDE 4.x started to look and act like Windows 7, after Windows 7 came out. There's actually a ton of copying on both sides through the years (Vista took obvious cues from KDE 3.x), but every time I've tried a new version of KDE it's more "Windows like". Either way, I've just never really liked KDE, and unlike on Windows, on *nix I actually have a choice and can choose not to use it. With Windows I'm stuck with their interface unless I want to try some hacked-up thing like Litestep or other conversion that breaks the workflow instead of fixing it.

You could make it work like XFCE, if you wanted as well.

Not really...I mean it could approximate Xfce, but it's not going to work the same because QT is not GTK. It's like saying you can learn to speak Portuguese by learning Spanish and French instead; it's just not going to work the way you think it would, and is more effort than just taking the straightforward path.