I actually think XFCE is one of the prettiest desktops around; clean, minimal and well thought out - I've been kicking myself that I didn't try it years ago...

Actually David I think yu raise an important point there. Because I did try Xfce, or rather Xubuntu well over a year ago. Someone gave me an old P3 laptop so I went for a lightweight desktop. I stuck Xubuntu 10.10 on it and it ran fine, so I just left it (I use that laptop as a VNC Client plugged into a TV to control music playing) . I didn't investigate further because I was not using the desktop at all, it autoloaded a VNC Viewer and did nothing else. However, my visual initial (and only) impression was that Xfce was 'solely' designed to run on basic/old machines - the default 'look' gave me that impression. It looked extremely basic and I didn't think that there was anything to it apart from lightness. I carried on experimenting with Unity et al on other machines and only went back to Xfce when I read that Linus himself actually uses it as his default desktop...What!! I thought. I must have missed something, and indeed I had.

I'm guilty of not trying it, for sure, but I think my experience goes to show that first impressions make a huge difference and it shows maybe that the default look certainly doesn't inspire or imply the highly pro interface that lurks underneath.

@wkr - thanks. That looks like the problem bcos it's esp tortuous on a wireless laptop whereas on Gigabit wired machines it's not too bad. I'll give that solution a go shortly - I'm in Xserver hell on another machine at the moment and experience has taught me to do one thing at a time

Cheers
T

no lag at all (OK...xcept loading Thunar...).

Have you tried this solution ?
http://forum.xfce.org/viewtopic.php?pid=24391#p24391
That worked for me

For me the greatest feature is the workspace switcher. I autoload apps and use devilspie to put them on separate workspaces, reserve 10 pixels on the right of each screen, then I can VERY rapidly switch between the full screen apps in their separate workspaces by flicking the mouse to the extreme right of the screen and using the mouse wheel - it's a dreamily rapid solution to task switching even on my 6 yr olds 'garden shed condition' P4. Awesome...

I agree. On a widescreen monitor I have a vertical panel at top right, below which is that blank space for scrolling between workspaces with maximised application windows. I sometimes show that off to people who've never seen Xfce. Their jaws drop.

For me the greatest feature is the workspace switcher. I autoload apps and use devilspie to put them on separate workspaces, reserve 10 pixels on the right of each screen, then I can VERY rapidly switch between the full screen apps in their separate workspaces by flicking the mouse to the extreme right of the screen and using the mouse wheel - it's a dreamily rapid solution to task switching even on my 6 yr olds 'garden shed condition' P4. Awesome...

Great stuff guys....adios Unity/Gnome 3/Cinammon/LXDE and whatever else I've spent hours tinkering with ... and I'm not gonna mention the Compiz cube

T