When comparing Pext vs DockbarX, the Slant community recommends DockbarX for most people. In the question“What are the best app launchers for UNIX-like systems?” DockbarX is ranked 10th while Pext is ranked 21st. The most important reason people chose DockbarX is:
DockbarX has an available plugin called "DockBarX Xfce4 Panel plugin" that allows DockbarX to blend in seamlessly with the XFCE4 panel, which is great for XFCE users due to the limited options of the default panel.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Highly responsive
The lightweight design using Python3 keep system resource use tiny while providing fantastic response times to user input
Pro Cross-platform
Built and packaged natively for Windows, MacOS and Linux with in app alerts to download and install new releases
Pro Great plugin to help blend in to XFCE4 panel
DockbarX has an available plugin called "DockBarX Xfce4 Panel plugin" that allows DockbarX to blend in seamlessly with the XFCE4 panel, which is great for XFCE users due to the limited options of the default panel.
Pro Easily customized
DockbarX has inbuilt settings that allow the user to easily customize the look of the dock, from changing the text color to the background color.
Pro Easily the best Win 7 taskbar functionality
If you want a combined launcher/manager, a la Win 7, this is it.
Cons
Con Not actively updated
Less than a dozen updates since 2014: https://github.com/M7S/dockbarx/commits/master