Looking for a lightweight panel (taskbar) for Linux? Check out Tint2. It’s an easily customized and light panel with a decent amount of features. It might not be the most advanced panel on the block, but it might just be the lightest.

WHAT IS IT AND WHAT DOES IT DO

Main Functionality

Tint2 is a lightweight panel (taskbar) for Linux.

Pros

• Elegant, simple and fast
• Easily customizable
• Manages workspaces very well
• Can work with multiple monitors
• Supports window manager menus
• Autohides
• Transparency that can autodetect composite managers
• Lots of themes that are easy to apply
• Supports tooltips
• Complies to free desktop standards

Cons

• No docklet or widget support

Discussion

I love the fact that I have an endless amount of panels to choose from while using Linux. Tint2 is one of my favorites. While using LXDE, I occasionally replace LXPanel with Tint2. This allows me to have a more elegant looking panel. I’m not exactly the biggest fan of LXPanel, so a lot of other docks and panels will eventually cycle through, but I always seem to come straight back to one of two things. One of those is Tint2.

Tint2 is a great panel, and I’m a huge fan of the way it works. I love the default look a lot, but my absolute favorite thing about it is the customization. All of tint2’s themes are extremely easy to apply, and the whole panel itself is easily customized. I really appreciate simplicity and the ease of use that it offers. Another really great thing is the fact that it supports tooltips. This isn’t really a groundbreaking feature, but it is one that is necessary.

One thing that bothers me about Tint2 is the fact that there’s no ‘widgets’ or ‘docklets’. Nothing that allows me to have pidgin integration, a music player controlling menu, a global messaging menu, and etc. These are things that I can’t live without. Most of my daily computer usage is centered around messaging, listening and other things, so the panel not having features like that really makes it hard to use for long periods of time.

Overall, though I really enjoy Tint2, I’m at a stage where I’m pretty comfortable with where I’m at. I’ve just installed the latest version of Xubuntu and I don’t really see myself switching to anything else. I’ve even dedicated almost two weeks to using Gnome3 vanilla, and I just found myself wanting to go back to XFCE. The panel has so much to offer, and even though I really like Tint2, I’m just not willing to give XFCE up just yet.

CONCLUSION AND DOWNLOAD LINK

If you’re a minimalist and you’re not happy with your current choice of panels or docks, you should give Tint2 a serious look. It might not have a massive amount of features, but it has great speed and a low memory footprint. This panel is a great addition to someone who prefers to customize their desktop instead of using a ‘Desktop Environment’. On the other hand, if you’re looking for a full featured panel that could replace the XFCE panel or even replace something like KDE or Unity, keep on walking. This panel does not have a large enough amount of features to warrant that sort of thing.

Price: Free

Version reviewed: 0.11

Supported OS: Any Linux distro

Download size: 89.6 KB

Is it portable? No

Tint2 homepage