Cleanest Desktop Environment and theme for MX?

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SudoLuna
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Apr 20, 2019 10:02 pm

Cleanest Desktop Environment and theme for MX?

#1 Post by SudoLuna »

As the subject says. I'm coming from Linux Mint and would like a cleaner theme than Stock.

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JayM
Qualified MX Guide
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Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2019 4:47 am

Re: Cleanest Desktop Environment and theme for MX?

#2 Post by JayM »

Nobody but you knows what you mean by "cleaner" and "cleanest" because that's subjective. You can test the themes that come with MX, which I would do first, and if none of them are to your liking you can visit https://www.xfce-look.org/ to find more gtk2 themes, icon themes and mouse cursors. You can install Cairo Dock, Docky or Plank from the repo if you like docks. You can browse the MX screenshot thread to get some ideas of what others have done, and maybe even what they did to achieve their desktop's look. There are other conkys available, and also clocky if you want an analog clock on the desktop. You can just disable conky (system/conky toggle) if you don't even want one.

(Fyi the wallpapers that come with MX are in /usr/share/backgrounds. If you add your own you can either paste them there as root or put them in a directory inside your home directory and browse to it from your Desktop Settings so it uses that directory instead. There are additional start menu icons available in the stable repository (mx-icons-start) that will be placed in /usr/share/local/icons. Icon themes go in /usr/share/icons and gtk2 themes in /usr/share/themes.)
Please read the Forum Rules, How To Ask For Help, How to Break Your System and Don't Break Debian. Always include your full Quick System Info (QSI) with each and every new help request.

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figueroa
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Re: Cleanest Desktop Environment and theme for MX?

#3 Post by figueroa »

Highly subjective, but in the Window Manager settings, set the style to Daloa. That should do it.
Andy Figueroa
Using Unix from 1984; GNU/Linux from 1993

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JayM
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Re: Cleanest Desktop Environment and theme for MX?

#4 Post by JayM »

I was just sitting down to edit my post to mention Settings/Window Manager (and WM Tweaks) as additional customizations that can be made. Also MX Tools/MX Boot Options to configure grub's look and feel and the boot splash screen, and Settings/LightDM GTK+ Greeter to customize the login screen.

I suggest taking time to thoroughly learn MX first though because it's possible to mess things up when you start customizing the system and it can be difficult for a newbie to undo something s/he did without knowing where to find things and what they do. Which reminds me, MX Tweak lets you reset LightDM and the panel back to defaults. It also lets you enable a compositor (Compton seems to be the best) to let you set transparencies of various components.
Please read the Forum Rules, How To Ask For Help, How to Break Your System and Don't Break Debian. Always include your full Quick System Info (QSI) with each and every new help request.

SudoLuna
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Apr 20, 2019 10:02 pm

Re: Cleanest Desktop Environment and theme for MX?

#5 Post by SudoLuna »

I want the closest experience to Windows XP as possible.

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Gordon Cooper
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Re: Cleanest Desktop Environment and theme for MX?

#6 Post by Gordon Cooper »

I fully agree with JayM's comments. Take the time to learn and understand MX before attempting to make changes. For me, MX is a tool and I do not really care how it looks, provided that I can find my way around and get things done.
Backup: Dell9010, MX-19_B2, Win7, 120 SSD, WD 232GIB HD, 4GB RAM
Primary :Homebrew64 bit Intel duo core 2 GB RAM, 120 GB Kingston SSD, Seagate1TB.
MX-18.2 64bit. Also MX17, Kubuntu14.04 & Puppy 6.3.

SudoLuna
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Joined: Sat Apr 20, 2019 10:02 pm

Re: Cleanest Desktop Environment and theme for MX?

#7 Post by SudoLuna »

Yes, but I need it to look like XP

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JayM
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Re: Cleanest Desktop Environment and theme for MX?

#8 Post by JayM »

SudoLuna wrote: Sat Apr 20, 2019 11:07 pm I want the closest experience to Windows XP as possible.
Bearing in mind that Linux isn't XP, you can find Windows-like themes on the Xfce Look site, and you can easily move the panel to the bottom in MX Tweak. If you can find a Windows Start icon you can put it in /usr/share/local/icons and change the Whisker Menu icon to that one. BTW if you right-click on the menu icon in the panel then go to Properties/Behavior tab and check "Position categories next to panel button" it will make the menu look more like Windows with the categories in the left pane and the individual apps and items in the right pane. If you want a menu that looks more like Windows Classic you can right-click on the panel, choose Panel/Add New Items then add Application Menu. That's the default Xfce menu. If you like it better you can remove Whisker Menu and move Application Menu to where Whisker used to be and use it instead.

I strongly recommend booting from your LiveUSB of whatever installation medium you used to install MX then making a complete backup of your MX installation including your home directory and including all hidden files and folders before you start customizing it, so in case things go haywire you can easily restore MX back to the way it was.
Please read the Forum Rules, How To Ask For Help, How to Break Your System and Don't Break Debian. Always include your full Quick System Info (QSI) with each and every new help request.

SudoLuna
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Joined: Sat Apr 20, 2019 10:02 pm

Re: Cleanest Desktop Environment and theme for MX?

#9 Post by SudoLuna »

There's no quick-launch theme for XP?

SudoLuna
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Apr 20, 2019 10:02 pm

Re: Cleanest Desktop Environment and theme for MX?

#10 Post by SudoLuna »

Haha, no. I am looking to create the closest thing to XP that isn't XP (so it's safe for all)

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