Xfce looks ugly after manual upgrade

[TheHimself]

I just manually upgraded Xubuntu from maverick to precise and it is working fine. Just the Gnome applications look ugly and I can't change their appearance from XFCE settings. I've attached a screenshot. Also where is the panel which was used in the xubuntu live disk? My panel is the old one.

Somewhat unrelated but I have both emacs23 and 24 installed but only 23 can be run! :confused:

[adam.stokes]

Maybe install gtk-theme-switch and selecting a gtk theme from the gui will make the gnome applications look a bit nicer.

[Frogs Hair]

The old themes might not be compatible so you are seeing the default root theme. 10.10 I think came with XFCE 4.6 and 4.8 or 4.10 is in use on 12.04.

[TheHimself]

gtk-theme-switch didn't help.
How can I install the new themes? I can't find xfce themes in synaptic.

[LewisTM]

Between 10.10 and 12.04, most GNOME programs have transitioned from GTK2 to GTK3. So if you have an old GTK2 theme selected, the GNOME apps will not be themed and will look ugly.

The solution is to pick a GTK theme that provides both version 2 and 3. Greybird is one which you will find in Settings->Appearance. You can get more from xfce-look.org or gnome-look.org, just make sure you download GTK2/3 flavors. You can also try these 5 GTK2/3 themes (http://www.webupd8.org/2012/01/spice-up-your-desktop-with-these-5-cool.html).

Cheers!

[TheHimself]

Thanks a lot. I installed clearlooks-phoenix and it now looks good.