Xfce 4.14 QT5 look

[dreamer]

It's likely Xfce 4.14 will be released this year. I was wondering what this will mean to QT apps (MX Tools). Right now there is GTK2 theme emulation that makes QT5 apps look like GTK2 apps. This works really well. Will this still work with a GTK3 version of Xfce?

[dolphin_oracle]

yes and no.

Yes in the sense that we can still override the Qt theme with the gtk2 theme and style plugins.

No in the sense that the situation is a little different with gtk3, but there are still ways around it (ways I don't necessarily like but awww well). But TMK, if the system theme in use supports both gtk2 and gtk3, then the Qt apps can still use the gtk2 styles, like we force them to do now. Its when the system themes themselves start missing gtk2 elements when the real trouble sets in. but the widgets, menus, and such will look gtk2 rather than like the gtk3 elements. so some difference in overall appearance between gtk2 and gtk3 themed apps will be apparent (just like it is now...check out the gtk3 file-roller widgets vs. the gtk2 theme thunar for instance). the colors match but the buttons, menus, and scrollbars and other interface elements will look different.

[dreamer]

yes and no.

Yes in the sense that we can still override the Qt theme with the gtk2 theme and style plugins.

Thanks for the explanation. This is good news, because it works great today.

No in the sense that the situation is a little different with gtk3, but there are still ways around it (ways I don't necessarily like but awww well). But TMK, if the system theme in use supports both gtk2 and gtk3, then the Qt apps can still use the gtk2 styles, like we force them to do now. Its when the system themes themselves start missing gtk2 elements when the real trouble sets in.

I don't think serious themes will miss GTK2 elements because GTK2 apps will not go away soon. Pale Moon, Space FM (OK, GTK3 version exists), Pinta, Mirage, gcolor2 (best color picker), Bleachbit, GIMP (still), GParted, Disk Manager. OK, I have to admit I found fewer GTK2 programs in my menu than I expected. It's because Xfce 4.12 is mostly GTK2 that I see GTK2 everywhere.

but the widgets, menus, and such will look gtk2 rather than like the gtk3 elements. so some difference in overall appearance between gtk2 and gtk3 themed apps will be apparent (just like it is now...check out the gtk3 file-roller widgets vs. the gtk2 theme thunar for instance). the colors match but the buttons, menus, and scrollbars and other interface elements will look different.

Yes, because GTK2 and GTK3 are two separate toolkits and two separate themes so will never look completely the same. That's why the QT5 GTK2 emulation is so impressive. It's very close to the GTK2 look and it's QT!