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Xfce 4.20 is a stable release with useful refinements to Thunar, display management, desktop icons, power controls, and the panel. Its headline change is groundwork for Wayland—but Wayland support remains experimental, and X11 is still supported. The changes below are ranked by likely practical impact, not by an official Xfce ranking.
What matters most in Xfce 4.20?
The Xfce Development Team announced version 4.20 on December 15, 2024, as a stable release that supersedes Xfce 4.18. Most development effort went toward preparing the desktop for Wayland while keeping X11 support. The release is best understood as a set of workflow improvements and technical groundwork, rather than a visual redesign. See the Xfce 4.20 release announcement.
- Wayland groundwork: important for future development, but not yet a complete replacement for an X11 session.
- Thunar improvements: more useful toolbar controls and smoother file operations make this the most visible set of daily-use changes.
- More capable display and desktop controls: profile management, scaling previews, monitor mirroring, and per-monitor icon layouts are more flexible.
- Practical laptop and panel refinements: power options and small customization additions address specific workflows without changing the desktop’s overall character.
Is Xfce 4.20 ready for Wayland?
No—not if you need a fully supported, feature-complete Wayland desktop. Xfce 4.20 itself is stable, but the project explicitly describes its Wayland support as experimental and says bugs or incomplete functions are possible. X11 remains supported. The project had no Wayland-capable compositor of its own for this release; it recommends Labwc or Wayfire for the best results when experimenting with Xfce 4.20 on Wayland. Those compositors are separate from Xfce.
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The core technical change is libxfce4windowing, a library that abstracts concepts such as screens, top-level windows, and workspaces instead of binding them directly to X11. The project says X11 is fully supported through libwnck, while Wayland support is partial because available Wayland protocols do not expose every operation available on X11. The official Xfce 4.20 feature tour lists these practical gaps for Wayland sessions:
#1 Best Overall
- FULL HD IPS DISPLAY - Enjoy vibrant, crystal-clear images with 178-degree wide-viewing angles
- AMD RYZEN 3 30 PROCESSOR - Everyday performance you can count on; Multitask, stream, game casually, and edit photos smoothly with responsive power and vibrant HDR visuals
- ENJOY UP TO 14 HOURS AND 15 MINUTES OF BATTERY LIFE - HP Fast Charge restores battery from 0 to 50% in approximately 45 minutes
- AMD RADEON 610M GRAPHICS - Experience smooth entertainment; Built for streaming and multitasking, enjoy realistic visuals and efficient performance for work and play
- STORAGE AND MEMORY - 512 GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD offers fast speed and efficient storage; and 8 GB LPDDR5 RAM memory boosts performance with higher bandwidth
- Workspace support is missing.
- Some applications’ system-tray icons may not appear.
- Xfce keyboard and mouse settings are unavailable.
- Power-key behavior is handled by the compositor.
- With the wlroots screencopy protocol, screenshots capture the whole screen; selecting a rectangle or the active window is not supported.
- Xfwm4 and several other Xfce components do not run on Wayland in this release.
If your work depends on those functions, X11 is the more complete choice in Xfce 4.20. Wayland is more appropriate for advanced users who are willing to test an incomplete session and accept that behavior may vary with the compositor.
What is new in Thunar?
Thunar receives the most obvious everyday workflow updates. Its toolbar can switch views, open a tab or window in the current directory, and display a hamburger menu when the menubar is hidden. Toolbar overflow helps keep controls accessible in a narrow window. Optional client-side decorations, a status-bar count of hidden files, symbolic side-pane icons, and improved keyboard focus in split-pane view add further flexibility.
Rank #2
- Intel Celeron N4120: 4 Cores & Threads, 1.1GHz Base Clock, Up to 2.6GHz Boost Clock, 4MB Cache, Intel UHD Graphics 600. The perfect combination of performance, power consumption, and value helps your device handle multitasking smoothly and reliably with four processing cores to divide up the work.
File operations also get several usability changes:
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- Folders can open on hover while dragging and dropping files.
- Transfer dialogs no longer steal focus.
- Parallel copying can be limited to idle devices.
- The file-validation path no longer calculates MD5 checksums before comparing files.
- Folders can be expanded in list view, and deleting a file can be undone with a confirmation prompt.
The release tour says Exo-Icon-View can handle “100,000 files and more without freezing” after changes to its container types. That is the project’s stated capability, not an independently published benchmark or a guarantee that every Thunar view will perform identically.
Rank #3
- Stunning 15.6" FHD IPS Display: Experience crisp 1920x1080 resolution on this 15.6 inch laptop with an IPS panel that delivers wide viewing angles and vivid colors. The narrow-bezel design maximizes screen real estate for comfortable viewing on this Win 11 laptop, whether you're studying or working.
- Celeron J4105 Processor & 256GB SSD: Powered by a reliable Celeron J4105 processor paired with 12GB DDR4 memory and a fast 256GB M.2 SSD. This laptop computer supports SSD expansion up to 2TB and TF card expansion up to 1TB, so your storage grows with your needs. Delivers smooth multitasking for daily productivity.
- AI-Powered Win 11 Laptop: Built-in AI features enhance your productivity with smart assistance for writing, summarizing, and task management. Pre-installed with Win 11 and includes Office 365 subscription. This student laptop is backed by 1-year warranty and 24/7 customer support.
- All-Day 7000mAh Battery & 180° Hinge: The high-capacity 7000mAh battery keeps this laptop powered through long classes or meetings. The 180-degree lay-flat hinge lets you share your screen effortlessly during presentations. This durable laptop computer adapts to your dynamic workflow.
- Versatile Connectivity Hub: Equipped with USB 3.2, Type-C, Mini HDMI, and 3.5mm audio jack to connect all your peripherals. Stay online anywhere with high-speed 5G WiFi and Bluetooth 4.2. This college laptop keeps you connected at home, in the library, or on the go.
How have display and desktop controls improved?
Display profiles and scaling
Display profile names can be edited, and profiles can be managed even when they do not currently match the connected display setup. Scaling now applies in both dimensions and previews the resulting size, making it easier to judge the effect before applying it. Monitor mirroring no longer requires matching refresh rates. The release also addresses scaling problems and missing larger icons across components, with the aim of reducing HiDPI blurriness.
Desktop icons and wallpapers
Each monitor can have its own desktop icon grid. Xfce saves icon positions to reduce unexpected rearrangement when displays are connected or removed, and new or dropped files appear near the cursor. Other additions include custom icon-label and label-background colors, an option to show fixed disk icons, and folder-first sorting. Wallpaper cycling avoids repeating an image until the other wallpapers have appeared.
Rank #4
- Efficient Performance for Everyday Computing: Powered by Intel N150 processor with up to 3.6 GHz Intel Turbo Boost Technology, 6 MB L3 cache, 4 cores, and 4 threads, this HP laptop delivers responsive performance for web browsing, streaming, document editing, and multitasking. Paired with 4GB LPDDR5 RAM and 128GB UFS storage, it handles daily tasks smoothly. Includes 1-year Microsoft 365 Personal subscription for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and cloud storage to maximize your productivity.
- 14-Inch HD Micro-Edge Display:Enjoy clear visuals on the 14-inch HD (1366 x 768) anti-glare screen with 250-nit brightness and 62.5% sRGB coverage. The micro-edge bezel delivers a 79% screen-to-body ratio in a compact design. An HP True Vision 720p HD camera with noise reduction and dual-array microphones supports clear video calls, remote work, and online learning.
- Modern Connectivity and Wireless Technology: Stay connected with Wi-Fi 6 (2x2) for faster wireless speeds and Bluetooth 5.4 for seamless pairing with accessories. Versatile port selection includes 1 USB Type-C 10Gbps with DisplayPort 1.2 for external displays, 2 USB Type-A 5Gbps ports for peripherals, 1 HDMI 1.4b port, 1 headphone/microphone combo jack, and 1 multi-format SD media card reader. Connect monitors, transfer files quickly, and expand your workspace with ease.
- All-Day Battery Life and Portable Design: Enjoy up to 11 hours of video playback, 7.5 hours of mixed usage, or 7.5 hours of wireless streaming on a single charge, perfect for students and professionals on the go. Weighing just 3.24 lb and measuring 12.76" x 8.86" x 0.71", this lightweight laptop fits easily in backpacks and bags. The stylish willow green top cover with matte finish and natural silver keyboard deck with vertical brushing pattern offer a modern, professional look.
- AI-Enhanced Productivity: Access Microsoft Copilot instantly with the dedicated Copilot key for faster assistance. AI Noise Reduction filters background sounds and improves voice clarity during calls. Dual speakers provide clear audio, while the full-size natural silver keyboard and HP Imagepad support comfortable typing and navigation.
What changed in Power Manager and the panel?
Power Manager
Power Manager adds hybrid sleep and support for power profiles through power-profiles-daemon. It also adds shutdown and do-nothing options for closing a laptop lid, improves lid-close behavior in multi-monitor setups, and supports keyboard-backlight toggles. For screen locking, Light Locker was dropped; management is handled through xfce4-screensaver.
Panel
The panel gains configurable border width and smaller minimum buttons for compact layouts. Clock options now include a 24-hour analog display, week numbers, and inactive LCD segments. Hovering over the show-desktop icon can also show the desktop.
Best Value
- 【Powerful Performance】Equipped with an Intel N150 CPU, featuring up to 4.4 GHz, ensuring efficient and powerful multitasking capabilities.
- 【Versatile Connectivity】Stay connected with multiple ports including USB 3.0 Type-C, USB 3.0 Type-A, and a headphone/mic combo jack, with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth for seamless wireless networking.
What else is new in Appfinder and shortcut settings?
Appfinder can show application-specific actions in its context menu, close when it loses focus, launch a command with Ctrl+Enter, display generic application names, run in daemon mode, and launch applications with a single click. In the shortcut editor, one keyboard shortcut can be assigned to multiple actions when those actions do not conflict.
Should you move to Xfce 4.20?
For someone already using Xfce, the release’s strongest reasons to upgrade are its Thunar workflow changes, more flexible display and desktop settings, and incremental power and panel options. If you are considering Wayland, decide based on the functions you rely on—not simply on the presence of Wayland groundwork. The project’s release materials describe version 4.20; availability and packaging can differ among Linux distributions, and the feature tour does not establish the status of later Xfce releases. The release announcement offers source packages and a combined tarball, but does not provide a distribution-by-distribution availability assessment.
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