Xfce Forum

Diadochokinetic

Member

Registered: 2021-01-10

Posts: 8

Always on top doesn't work with full screen applications

Hello fellow xfce fans,

so far, my workstation was running a stock Ubuntu. I finally had the time to assimilate it with all my other machines and install xfce.

Unfortunately, "always on top" doesn't seem to work with fullscreen windows in xfce. I work a lot with virtual machines and remote desktops in fullscreen. Being able to have a terminal window or the screenshotter (best tool ever) "always on top" of my fullscreen applications is an essential part of my workflow.

From this reddit discussion I learned, that this seems to be rooted in how xfwm4 handles fullscreen applications compared to other window managers (e.g. mutter).

"Fullscreen" means that you are literally giving your entire screen to the graphics card and that 1 game. Not to anything else. There is no windowing involved, and no window graphics compositor either. This will increase performance, as long as all you want to do is look at that game.

Now, "always on top" works with fullscreen applications in Gnome (WM = mutter). So I wondered, how does mutter handle these things differently and can I configure xfwm4 to handle fullscreen applications like mutter?

Regards
Diadochokinetic

ToZ

Administrator

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-06-02

Posts: 11,486

Re: Always on top doesn't work with full screen applications

I can confirm with virtualbox that I see the same. Perhaps best to create a bug report to bring it to the developer's attention and see what he says.

---

Please remember to mark your thread [SOLVED] to make it easier for others to find
--- How To Ask For Help | FAQ | Developer Wiki  |  Community | Contribute ---

Diadochokinetic

Member

Registered: 2021-01-10

Posts: 8

Re: Always on top doesn't work with full screen applications

That's a good idea. I opened an issue here.