Xfce 4.18 for Linux released: Resource-saving desktop gets a makeover

The free and modular desktop environment Xfce 4.18 for Unix and for Unix-like operating systems such as distributions based on the Linux system kernel is the first new edition in around 24 months. The successor to Xfce 4.16, which was released in December 2020, has been visually and functionally upgraded.

Xfce follows Gnome and KDE Plasma

After the two large desktops that dominate the Linux environment, Gnome and KDE Plasma, have received numerous updates and functional enhancements in recent months, the resource-saving but no less modular Xfce Desktop, getting its first major release in two years.

Xfce 4.18, which was developed under version number 4.17 and acts as the successor to Xfce 4.16, is intended to offer initial support for the free display server protocol Wayland via the following applications for the first time, as work environments such as Gnome and Plasma have already demonstrated.

The most important new features relate in particular to the following in-house applications and components:

Thunar
Xfce4-Dict
Xfce4 Terminal
Xfce4 Task Manager
Mousepad
Ristretto
Catfish
Gigolo

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However, the developers have not yet revealed whether the free desktop will one day aim for full support for Wayland. The project has provisionally summarized the other short-term planning games for the integration of the free display server protocol in a Wayland roadmap provided for this purpose.

in-house file manager is the focus

Among other things, the in-house file manager Thunar is to experience major changes, which now for the first time supports a two-window view that is activated via the F3 key and offers a new search symbol in the address bar for recursive searches. The metadata will be output at the bottom in the future, while the main menu has been cleaned up and clearly decluttered.

The preview function, for example for images, has also been further improved and can now be configured both as a side panel and in the form of a standalone view. Overall, the file manager becomes much more flexible and customizable.

An improved list view, simpler favorites to be managed and a new highlight function that can be used to highlight files in color round off the extensive Thunar update as part of Xfce 4.18.

Other innovations in Xfce 4.18

In addition to the file manager, the desktop itself, workspace panels, the widget library, and the native thumbnail service have received numerous innovations, while the new shortcut editor has made its way into Thunar, the Xfce terminal, and mousepad.

The other innovations of Xfce 4.18 read as follows:

The dialog for entering file names has been improved so that erroneous entries should be caught better and useful hints added. For example, users are notified if file names begin or end with a space.
A shortcut editor is also new, which gives users a graphical user interface for defining keyboard shortcuts. Currently limited to Thunar, the Xfce terminal and mouse pad, this function is to be expanded in the near future.
The thumbnail service (“Tumbler”) has been given performance improvements for the scheduler and new overwrite options.
In addition, the DateTime plugin and the Clock plugin have been merged into a single plugin, which simplifies development and product maintenance and should accelerate. The new plugin gets a new binary time mode and a sleep monitor for the first time.

The developers have further innovations, optimizations and error corrections in the Xfce 4.18 tour on the official website of the project summarized.

Xfce 4.18 is already officially available

Xfce 4.18 is already available for download in source code form on the official website. It can also be assumed that the new version will soon be included in the corresponding repositories of well-known distributions.

The one on Linux shows how flexible and adaptable the Xfce desktop is specialized YouTube channel “Linux Scoop”, which gives the desktop a completely unique look in just a few steps.