In this tutorial you will learn how to install xfce4 desktop enviroment on Arch Linux. XFCE runs perfect, even if your computer is too old and has low performance, xfce simply never disapoints.
Desktop Manager
Sets the background image and provides a root window menu, desktop icons or minimized icons and a windows list.
Window Manager
Manages the placement of windows on the screen, provides window decorations and manages workspaces or virtual desktops.
Panel
Switch between opened windows, launch applications, switch workspaces and menu plugins to browse applications or directories.
Session Manager
Controls the login and power management of the desktop and allows you to store multiple login sessions.
Application Finder
Shows the applications installed on your system in categories, so you can quickly find and launch them.
File Manager
Provides the basic file management features and unique utilities like the bulk renamer.
Setting Manager
Tools to control the various settings of the desktop like keyboard shortcuts, appearance, display settings etcetera.
Make sure to update the system before installing xfce4.
sudo pacman -Syu
After updating system, run the following command to install xfce4 desktop environment with additional packages and display manager.
sudo pacman -S xfce4 xfce4-goodies lxdm
If you have already a display manager installed on your system, simply logout from the current user, then on the login window select “XFCE Session”.
sudo systemctl enable lxdm
Run the above command to install lxdm display manager, and you should be able to login to your desktop via lxdm.
By now you should know how to install XFCE desktop environment on Arch Linux.