I am using Debian Squeeze. I installed LXDE and am using that for a destop. I find the lxpanel buggy; the botton panel where I have my open apps displayed dissapears. The volume icon freezes. I would like to remove it and install something else. I would like some suggestions and some directions of how to do this. I basically want a panel to place icons on of my most used apps and a panel to show which apps are open and a menu.

Thanks

Have you tried Wheezy. Could be the problems you are having are fixed there.

Another thing you might try is enabling the squeeze-backports repo. May pull in some newer packages.

When you log in you can change the session you are booting to. With Lxde installed you will have the option of straight up OpenBox. This would be a good place to try different panels without effecting your Lxde setup.

Most people using OB seem to like the tint2 panel and claim you can do anything you want with it. This will require some work in the config files to get it the way you want. I know nothing about it. Looks to me like a pain. Sounds like a chore. None the less there are die hard tint2 users and so there must be something to it. It has been around for a long time and should be very stable.

I have used the Xfce panel in OB with pretty good success. Not full Xfce functionality but the launchers work fine.