Why XFCE?

[KBD]

I actually like several different DE's. But what I like best about Xfce is that it doesn't get in my way. When I want to get actual work done I don't have to think about my desktop, it just does what I need. I don't have to think about it or figure things out. Some De's do get in my way and slow me down, despite being beautiful desktops.

[figueroa]

XFCE is stable, reliable, easy to use, easy to learn, fast, efficient, configurable, and stays out of the way so I can do what needs to be done. In other words, it's just about perfect. I also use LXDE under Gentoo, which is slightly less easy to learn for beginners but still meets all of my needs. I've used most desktops at one time or another, but all of them fall short of what I'm looking for, in particular, most of the most popular desktops are bloated, intrusive and fall short in other ways, often not very stable as they push the bleeding edge of development.

Bells and whistles get in the way of work. I do not need or want to be entertained or nagged by my desktop.

Complaints about Thunar cause me to think that the users have not learned how to use it and the underlying OS well enough. Under XFCE, I would never consider using another file manager. But, users have choices. One can use alternative or even many file managers if one chooses, though I have found that using many file managers leads to confusion and mistakes. Also, XFCE is sufficiently Thunar-centric to make removing it a bad idea for most users.

[richb]

Of course using other app choices than XFCE default choices does not in any way change the desktop. Personally I use Dolphin file manager. There is no need to remove thunar. other apps can be added and do not affect the desktop.

[deanr72]

Of course using other app choices than XFCE default choices does not in any way change the desktop. Personally I use Dolphin file manager. There is no need to remove thunar. other apps can be added and do not affect the desktop.

Interesting. So installing Dolphin and making that the default file manager won't cause issues? I've heard conflicting reports but while I was playing around the other day I managed to get Caja working seemingly without problems - although I was just playing around rather than actually working.

I also realised today that I never use any of those extra buttons along the top that Nemo offers me.

[dolphin_oracle]

you shouldn't have any issue with additional file managers as long as the filemanager doesn't try to take over the desktop folder presentation. caja and/or nemo (I forget if its which or both) used to have issues with this but I think those are resolved these days.

[richb]

Yes as to Dolphin not causing issues with XFCE. However other KDE apps need installation to get full Dolphin capabilities.

[penguin]

Agree. Totally agree. I have tested some of DE and have get back to XFCE. XFCE is lean and fast. Folks have a wrong perception on LXDE and LXQT for being light. No.... In the first sight maybe yes, but when you use desktop with some applications on background and middle to heavy applications you will not find anymore the benefit of being light.Is much more easy and familiar configuration of XFCE than LXQT or LXDE or even OpenBox. I would prefer Trinity as the second Desktop, because is really a great desktop that comes with additional tools for user configurations and some other things when XFCE lacks.Anyway , also Trinity needs a right and careful configuration because will suffer when you run some applications in the same time.

Simple XFCE(without installing of XFCE additional plugins), is not more than 120-140 kb more than LXDE or even Trinity, but Trinity is much more friendly and offers more than LXDE. I have calculated the 120-140 kb difference on my Sparky Linux.

[GuiGuy]

XFCE, as tweaked by MX, works very well for me except that Thunar lacks a split-screen mode and can access only local files.
For split-screen and remote files I use konqueror which runs fine in the XFCE environment.

What's the advantage of split screen mode (I just discovered this in Nemo thanks to your post) versus the simple right click > open in new tab?

I'm also not sure what you mean by 'local files'. Files which aren't on your computer, I presume. As I don't know that those are I guess I don't this feature

Split-screen lets you drag and drop files from one place to another in one window.
No, by local files I mean files which are on your computer, as opposed to those on another machine on the internet.

[manyroads]

Personally nothing compares to what I can do with Xfce... I even like Thunar the way it is with all my little scripts added (posted elsewhere here). Over the years, I have used and left every other major DE because of overhead and sundry other nits. But I know that's just me.

This is Linux, so use what you like, mix & match what you choose. But for me, one of the beautiful things about this distro (MX) is its Xfce implementation.

If I were a fan of Budgie (I'd use Solus), for Cinnamon (I'd use Mint), LxQT (Manjaro or Siduction)... you get the idea.

For those who want Thunar to offer a dual panel, it's on the Xfce wish list. As they say, vote early, vote often to get it moving up the popularity chain. See: https://wiki.xfce.org/wish_list Or contact the Xfce lead Sean Davis : https://bluesabre.org/tag/xfce/

[Artim]

I have used Gnome, LXDE, KDE, Enlightenment, Openbox, Fluxbox, and Xfce. By far the easiest for me to configure any which way I like it is Xfce. I also think it's probably the most "newbie-friendly" DE, which is why it is the choice of some distros for children (even more than the Sugar desktop) as well as newcomers to Linux.