Give Xfce a Mac or Unity-style makeover

You can now make your Linux desktop look and behave more like macOS or Unity without switching distributions.

This article provides a guide for customizing the Xfce desktop environment to emulate the look and feel of macOS and the former Ubuntu Unity desktop. It details how to use Xfce's Panel Profiles tool and manually adjust panel configurations to achieve desired layouts. Specific instructions are given for fixing alignment issues in the Unity layout by adding a transparent, expanded separator to push status icons to the right. For the macOS-style "Cupertino" layout, users are shown how to uncheck the "Expand" option for the AppMenu plugin to fix menu alignment and how to change the Whisker menu display to show only the icon. The article also recommends the `xfce4-docklike-plugin` as a lightweight, native alternative to the default window buttons app switcher, enabling pinned applications and visual indicators for running apps. Finally, it explains how to configure applications to use a global menu bar by modifying Xfce settings and installing the `appmenu-gtk-module`, enabling menus to appear on the panel instead of within individual application windows, although compatibility varies.

The core of the customization involves fine-tuning Xfce's panel plugins, specifically addressing layout and functionality. By adding a 'Separator' plugin with 'Transparent' and 'Expand' settings, users can achieve the right-aligned status icons characteristic of Unity. Similarly, adjusting the 'AppMenu' plugin's 'Expand' property in the 'Cupertino' layout corrects menu bar alignment. A significant enhancement comes with the replacement of the default 'Window Buttons' plugin with the 'Docklike Taskbar' plugin, which offers pinned application launchers and clear indicators for running programs, mimicking modern dock functionalities in a lightweight, integrated manner.

Achieving a true global menu experience, similar to macOS or Unity, requires additional configuration beyond simple panel adjustments. This involves using `xfconf-query` commands to enable GTK+ shell menu features and installing the `appmenu-gtk-module`. While this allows many applications to display their menus on the panel, certain applications, like Firefox in some versions, may not fully support this functionality. The article highlights that the success of the global menu depends on both Xfce's configuration and individual application support, offering a path towards a cleaner, more unified desktop interface for supported software.