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Xfce 4.2.0 Changelog

General

  • Minimum required GTK version is 2.2 (2.4 is recommended).
  • Overall usability improvements
  • Improved Xinerama support.
  • Improved support for Cygwin.
  • Support for partial struts in xfwm4, xftaskbar4 and xfce4-panel.
  • Freedesktop specifications compliance for menu and icons themes.
  • New file locations based on the Freedesktop.org XDG Basedir Specification (all Xfce settings are now stored under the ~/.config/xfce4/ directory).
  • New and updated translations.
  • Support for kiosk mode, in which the allowed user actions can be restricted in xfce4-session, xfce4-panel, and xfdesktop (see included doc/README.Kiosk files).

Window Manager (xfwm4):

  • Native multiscreen support (manage all screens from a single window manager process).
  • Enhanced support for Xinerama.
  • Support for more hints from the Freedesktop.org Extended Window Manager Hints specification version 1.3 and above.
  • Supports the Show Desktop protocol.
  • Supports KDE context help.
  • Support KDE system tray icons.
  • Window menu features an Always on top option.
  • Graphical keyboard shorcuts editor included in the xfwm settings manager dialog.
  • Xfwm4 now has his own optional compositing manager (a manager for the new X Composite extension present in X.org 6.8). This adds a dropshadow to all windows and supports setting window transparency by applications themselves or by using a tool like transset.
  • Improved focus management.
  • Support for image composition with PNG images layered above the pixmap frame, allowing for gradients or other color effects.
  • Completely new default look. Several new themes added.
  • Change location of themes to be more in line with gtk, metacity, and others.
  • Application's icon and name shown in the Alt+Tab dialog.

Desktop Manager (xfdesktop)

  • Gradient support for background color.
  • Brightness adjustment for the backdrop.
  • Real multiscreen and Xinerama support.
  • Support for icons in window list and applications menu.
  • Ability to disable/enable icons in each menu, or the menus entirely.
  • Graphical menu editor with DnD support from xfce4-appfinder and .desktop files from Rox, Konqueror, Nautilus, Xffm, etc.
  • Add "-menu", "-windowlist" and "-reload" options for "xfdesktop", to be used in keybindings.
  • Support for 'system' menu, which lists all apps that install *.desktop files according to the Freedesktop.org Menu Spec.
  • Panel plugin to show the menu (yes, it's a Start button).
  • Use a menu cache to improve performance after it has been generated once.
  • Kiosk mode support.

Panel (xfce4-panel)

  • New look with smaller move handles and new default icons.
  • Uses global icon theme setting (in user interface dialog).
  • Improved resizing and moving behaviour; panel is forced to be on the edges of the screen.
  • The panel is now a dock type window, which means it will always be on top.
  • Improved focus handling; clicking on the panel will not remove the focus from the currently active window.
  • There can be only one panel per X screen. Multihead supported when environment is set up properly (DISPLAY variable).
  • Support for kiosk mode.
  • Unload unused plugins and dynamically update plugin list. Use dialog to add new panel items, instead of a submenu.
  • Mail checker now supports mbox, Maildir and POP3.
  • Support for dragging applications from xfce4-appfinder to a launcher properties dialog.
  • Transparency when the X Composite extension is enabled and the window manager supports it.
  • Backward compatibility with the Xfce Goodies plugins available from http://xfce-goodies.berlios.de/.

New Session Manager (xfce4-session)

  • New module in 4.2: manage applications on Xfce startup.
  • Themeable splash screen engines.
  • System shutdown/reboot support using the sudo mechanism.
  • Major performance improvements over the previous snapshot versions.
  • GNOME/KDE compatibility.
  • Native multihead support (Xinerama and multiscreen).
  • Doesn't rely on smproxy (or any rewrite like gnome-smproxy), but provides (partial) session management, even for non-SM or X11R5-SM aware apps.
  • Kiosk mode support.

Settings Manager (xfce-mcs-manager)

  • New dialog layout: buttons have a label below icon and are arranged in multiple columns.
  • Font rendering setup dialog.
  • Merged Desktop Workspaces and Workspace Margins dialogs.
  • Display resolution and gamma correction dialog.
  • API version was bumped (plugins linked against the old version won't work until you recompile them).
  • Customizable icons.

File Manager (xffm)

  • Two independent panes (eliminated confusing behaviour from 4.0.x).
  • Completely reworked toolbars and menus.
  • Better archiving support (creating tar/tar.gz/tar.bz2 archives).
  • Improved trash handling with support for GNOME and KDE trash bins.
  • Use global icon theme (user interface dialog).
  • Allow user customization of icon themes.
  • Improved Samba support (allow mount/unmount, double click, monitor downloads).
  • Keeps track of recently and frequently opened files.
  • Applications branch is now a toolbar (only available if compiled with "--enable-panel").
  • Ability to change file name, group, owner and mode allowed from inline row editing.
  • Dynamic sidebar.
  • Improved Asian language support.
  • Pastelink option added (i.e., create symlinks to pasteboard elements).
  • Recursive scrambling of directories (only available if compiled with "--enable-scrambledir").
  • Mount/unmount of fstab points allowed from outside fstab branch (by popup menu).
  • Mouse selection behaviour configurable by user.
  • Verbose/nonverbose diagnostics configurable by user.
  • Renaming of bookmark elements allowed.
  • Noticeable performance improvements under the hood.
  • Search window called directly by invoking xfglob4.
  • Files opened directly with associated mimetype application if invoked with "xffm filename" (path to filename can be absolute, relative or relative to homedir).

Printing Helper (xfprint)

  • Completely rewritten to use a pluggable printing backend system.
  • Use either CUPS, BSD-LPR, or a file as the print destination; printers are retrieved from the chosen printing system (no need to add printers to the list manually).

GTK theme engine (gtk-xfce-engine-2)

  • Completely new default theme.
  • Improved drawing of control elements to enhance usability.

Utilities (xfce-utils)

  • Configurable taskbar width and height.
  • Taskbar has always group tasks option.
  • Taskbar has selectable left/center/right alignment and variable width.
  • Taskbar has right-click action menu.
  • Call 'xfrun4 filename' to get an 'Open with...' dialog.
  • Taskbar has option to show only icons.
  • About dialog can be compiled with extra vendor information.
  • Run dialog now properly checks if command fails.
  • Updated user guide.
  • Small changes to startup script and xfhelp4 script.

Volume Control (xfce4-mixer)

  • Complete rewrite of the mixer with settings manager dialog.
  • Mixer profiles.
  • Support for ALSA, OSS and Sun audio.

Calendar and Appointments (xfcalendar)

  • First day of the week option removed (managed through the locale settings in gtk 2.4 and above).

New Application Finder (xfce4-appfinder)

  • New module in Xfce 4.2: find (and run) applications.
  • Alternative interface to the application menu.

Icon Box (xfce4-iconbox)

  • Make iconbox a dock type window (always on top), like the panel.
  • Make the iconbox transparency configurable when using the X Composite extension.

Icon Theme (xfce4-icon-theme)

  • New module in Xfce 4.2: Freedesktop.org icon theme with special icons for Xfce; it includes both PNG and SVG icons.

Toys (xfce4-toys)

  • Updated tips.