A test release of the Xfce 4.20 Pre1 desktop environment has been published, aimed at providing a classic desktop environment that requires minimal system resources to run. The Xfce 4.20 branch has been moved to the freeze stage, prohibiting the addition of new features to the base components and shifting the focus of developers to stabilizing the existing code base. One or two more test releases will be formed before the release, which is scheduled for December 15.
The key innovation of the Xfce 4.20 branch is experimental support for work using the Wayland protocol. To abstract work on top of Wayland and X11, a new library libxfce4windowing is used, offering a layer independent of the graphics system, in which window management components (screens, root windows, virtual desktops, etc.) are implemented. Instead of libmutter, the Wayland-based session uses the wlroots library, developed by the Sway project.
The Wayland-based session in Xfce 4.20 covers the full range of available features, but is marked as requiring some work for full everyday use. Wayland support is implemented in almost all Xfce components and applications, with the exception of xfce4-taskmanager, xfce4-screensaver, xfce4-embed-plugin, xfce4-xkb-plugin, xfce4-windowck-plugin, and xfce4-volumed-pulse. There are no plans to remove X11 support in the foreseeable future.
The developers of the Xfce user environment have also announced a competition to create new desktop wallpapers, which will be included in the Xfce 4.20 release. Works should be sent in vector graphics formats and distributed under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license. A mandatory condition is the presence of an unmodified image of the Xfce mouse in the work. Works are accepted until November 15, after which the winner will be chosen based on a vote by community members.
Source: opennet.ru
