GNOME Desktop not Manjaro-Theme after fresh install

Hi guys,
new to Manjaro. I worked with Linux Mint Cinnamon so far. Switching to Manjaro because I really like it. Now after a fresh install the Desktop looks different than from the live-CD. The dock (?) / dash dock (?) is on the bottom and only active when I click Activities. Feel pretty stupid, because can’t even find the settings to adjust this. I want it leftsided, transparent, smaller,…

Settings / Layouts / Manjaro Legacy → Reload Desktop doesn’t change anything
seems to be stuck in Gnome default

welcome to gnome 40.

those are the stock settings, you’ll need to use extensions to change.

thanks kerry_s!
thats a bit of a downer. any extension you can recommend?
maybe one with a nice GUI?

Just open “Tweaks” and check if the theme is available and select it.

Appearance > themes >

  • applications: matcha-sea
  • shell: matcha-sea

That should set the theme.

As for layout. Manjaro is currently on Gnome 40 and not all extensions work equaly smooth. Stock Gnome 40 is pretty good though and I think dash to panel and dash to dock work (even if it’s with some bugs), haven’t tried.

You should have an extensions application where you can turn on/off some default extensions. Maybe that helps.

Thanks DenisV!
Did the settings as you suggested. It changes something. But the dash or dock (whats it called?) is still on the bottom and only through Activities available. So it still is not the desktop I had on the live-CD.

Dash to dock is only up to 3.38 - gives out an error

Also tried other matcha themes - no dark ones work. maybe something is completely wrong here?!

sorry, haven’t used gnome in awhile. been waiting for it to settle down.
i’m currently on xfce.

so is gnome 4 new and has all the baby illnesses? is xfce the better choice you mean?

There’s no real better choice. A matter of which works best for you. I use XFCE, too, because it doesn’t get in the way.

Because the Live CD is still with Gnome 3.38, and will be automatically updated to 40 after you update your installed system.

If you want to still have 3.38, you can go to Ubuntu… Which will switch to Gnome 40 anyway with next release.

Manjaro is a rolling release, with the latest versions of packages available, no turning back to the past.

There is a newer version of Dash to Dock, that you can put on the left rather than the bottom if you wish.

So I downloaded the xfce version now. After days of constant problems gnome and me did not become friends. Now I will get to know xfce and see if that can become my new home. Unfortunately the normal version did not boot so I downloaded the minimal version. But surely I can add all the software I need. xfce is blasingly fast so far and did not crash once. Just don’t like the looks too much so I will go and try to tweak it - but that’s probably not a topic for the gnome-thread.
Thank you guys for the help!

KDE is blazing fast nowadays, but can be a little overwhelming.

Cinnamon or Budgie are good equivalent, less features but good look.

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xfce can be tweaked, it’s pretty modular.

for a dock grab plank & add it to startup.
ctrl+right mouse click on plank & you can set it on the side.

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