Slackware 14.2 64-bit. Long-time MATE user but I am giving Xfce a whirl for a while.

The desktop and apps are notably snappier.

No dconf. To quote Kojak, "Who loves ya, baby?"

* The Alt+F2 launcher applet. The applet tries to auto-guess my search. Any way to disable?

* The Alt+F2 launcher applet. Pressing the Down keyboard key or pressing the applet Down arrow results in a dialog popping open. The dialog is not retaining any command history (empty). How to fix?

* The Alt+F2 launcher applet. Is there a simple keyboard shortcut to drop-down the command history without opening the bigger dialog?

* The xfce4 terminal. There is an activity indicator. On my system a tab that does not have focus displays the text in the tab red and when the task completes magenta. Quite nice, but is there a way to configure the terminal to better attract my attention? "Yoo-hoo!"

* Does the xfce terminal support bookmarks?

* Can the desktop context menu be disabled? IOW, "right-click" does nothing?

* Moving an Xfce profile to another computer or user account or creating an /etc/skel default profile. Just copy everything in [.config|.local/share]/xfce4* and use sed to change the user name in the config files?

I am mildly embarrassed to admit I haven't tinkered with Xfce in a long time. So throw your tips and suggestions at me Svengoolie style.

Thunar supports bookmarks and it has a "open terminal here" option on the right-click menu.

I get your point but not what I was curious about. Most of the GUI file managers support "Open terminal here." Doable but extra steps. Konsole is the only terminal emulator I have used that directly supports bookmarks -- or at least one time did. I'm not a KDE user and don't install any of the packages. My boomarks shell script works well enough though.

It appears to still do so. (I don't use KDE but I did install all of the packages; that means I can launch konsole from XFCE, if I wish.)

EDIT: I've never felt the need for terminal bookmarks, but you aren't alone. https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/10585 and https://stackoverflow.com/questions/...rking-for-bash provide alternatives (assuming you suddenly start disliking your own script).

* The auto-guess feature is basically the whole point of the program... I dont think u can disable that

* You could create a shortcut in settings/keyboard/shortcuts (menu) and execute "/usr/bin/xfce4-appfinder --collapsed".

* That "Yoo-hoo!" message could be implemented with a wrapper script or program that launches your
program and modifies the window title when it terminates (by using ncurses for example).
The terminal is quite simple, it lacks bookmarks and goodies, you wont get that "Yoo-hoo!" indicator, but you can trust it a LOT of tabs and windows it will rarely fail (never).

* My current profile is 5years old or so, during that time I just keep using the same /home/user directory, xfce configs included because I'm lazy and havent had major problems. I have reinstalled slackware several times, now I'm using Mageia and my profile works fine. Just assume that If u move the profile to another distro some things will break because some settings point to certain executables that are placed in different paths...

Tip: There is a panel widget called "workspace switcher"... I use several workspaces (36 at this time) and I never reboot the computer, just hibernate. Moving windows to different workspaces is a perfect replacement for bookmarking things.

Tip2: clipman program is a clipboard manager that can store an arbitrary number of "text-copies". It can auto store selections if you are lazy like I'm (no need to Ctrl-C)

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If you don't care for the launcher you could always install a third-party one, like gmrun, dmenu, or rofi.

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... and yes, the right click context menu on the desktop can be disabled. I didn't know it until it became a default setting in a xubuntu install I tried. "Where the Hell is my right click menu???" lol

I remember in ancient versions it used to be have to be enabled again at compile time of xfdesktop if some asshole distributor disabled it, but in at least 4.12+ there's a setting in Desktop, on the Menus tab.

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I suppose. I found a work-around. Press the Delete key when the auto guessing populates the field beyond the desired string.
Collapsed is the default appearance. At least on my system. I prefer collapsed anyway.
No arguments from me. Somehow seems better and snappier than mate-terminal. And no tooltips!
I already tested moving/copying. There are some Xfce4 "helper" files that don't seem to be critical that contain the $USER name. Deleting those files creates a final profile that probably could be used in /etc/skel, although I have not tested /etc/skel yet.
Um, er, okay. My mind would melt with 36 workspaces.
I have been using Parcellite for years. I haven't given clipman a whirl, but might test the app on a rainy day list.
How to disable? I have that option disabled. I am not seeing anything else obvious, but I can't see the tip of my nose either.

The context menu can not be disabled when the Desktop displays the Desktop/ directory.

To disable the desktop right menu you should disable displaying the desktop icons.
To do that go to settings/desktop (in the settings menu), in the "icons" tab: set "icon type"
to none. And then go to the "menus" tab and untick the "include applications menu on desktop right click" option.

Btw, Xfce doesnt have dconf but there is /usr/bin/xfce4-settings-editor

Hm, this works here: Settings > Desktop > Menus tab > uncheck "Include applications menu on desktop right click"

Edit: "lemonade" beat me to it, and with a better reply

Back to the Application Finder.

No bookmarks. What is supposed to be populated there? Custom bookmarks or the user's .gtk-bookmarks?

Command history. I am puzzled how this works. The feature is not populating anything there. Launcher history is useful.

OK, did all that as instructed. Logged out and back in. I still have a desktop "right-click" popup menu. This is not critical. Just a quirk with my work flow preferences.
You could have stopped right there. Yay! Simple text files! How clever and ingenious! What will the devs think of next?
I'll test this further with one of my test accounts and a new/fresh default profile.

Side note. I am really amazed at how much faster the entire Xfce desktop feels compared to MATE 1.16. Almost all apps open in a blink. Except the usually lethargic LibreOffice. I don't know whether the speed difference is due to GTK2 vs GTK3 or something else. Weird too is that Firefox seems to render web pages faster in Xfce than in MATE. I'm kind of perturbed at myself for not tinkering with Xfce long ago, although I still much prefer Caja over Thunar. Even Caja opens and seems faster in Xfce. I hope Xfce 4.14 is just as snappy and responsive!

Ahh, I never have desktop icons enabled (I remember when they first added them to XFCE, they were fugly... and the default configuration around that time started to get all Gnome'ish instead of CDE'ish), so I hadn't noticed that affected the right click menu setting. I stopped liking desktop icons anywhere (even on Windows), when I started using window managers that don't have them. Desktop is for wallpaper, program windows and perhaps a very temporary work space. If I use XFCE I still configure it the old way with big auto-hiding panel full of launchers, tear off menus and virtual desktop pager on the bottom and a thin taskbar type menu on top.

I understand. I prefer no desktop icons, but my testing has to consider fellow workers. C'est la vie.

I ran into another quirk. I am using a basic Xfce panel menu (no whisker menu). The menu has no accelerator keys. Are accelerators supported in Xfce panel menus?

I am long in the habit of pressing Alt+F1 and then the accelerator key of the submenu.

The online docs address accelerators in menubars and toolbars but not directly in the panel menu. I am not finding anything online.