I hate the panel on the side! How can I move it to the top or bottom like I prefer?

The MX Tweak tool makes moving it to your preferred position very easy.

Can I use Ubuntu PPAs?

Ubuntu is not Debian, so installing PPAs will likely cause problems. See this for more details: https://mxlinux.org/wiki/system/add-ppa-repository
Solution: Go to the request forum for your MX version, under Community Repository (CR), and ask our Packaging Devs if the PPA can be be ported or updated for our own repository.

Does MX have any social media presence?

MX has very active sites, see this list for details.

Should I leave MX Test, Debian Experimental or Multimedia repositories enabled?

Leaving these repos permanently enabled will result in system instabilities and likely lead to a re-installation.
Solution: use the MX-Tools > Package Installer to install individual packages from selected repos.

What’s the deal with MX and systemd? How come there are still systemd packages installed?

Systemd is included by default but not enabled. For more information see the Users Manual Section 1.7 and the WIki article.

Why in the world do you have Flash installed?

MX Linux is fundamentally user-oriented, so includes a certain amount of non-free software to assure that the system works out of the box as much as possible. Flash is easily uninstalled using the Package Installer.

How long will a version of MX be supported?

We are currently supporting versions of MX from 14 through 18.3 through the Forum. MX 14 is based on Debian Wheezy, and wheezy LTS ceased being supported on 31 May 2018.
MX 15/16 will also be supported for several more years; currently we try and roll any new packages we can for that version too, but as it ages, that becomes less practical.

General support information is available in the Users Manual Section 1.4.

What’s the best way to upgrade from one version of MX to another?

Instructions for migration of different MX versions can be found on the Migration page of the MX Community website.

I don’t like XFCE. How can I install a different desktop?

A number of different desktops are available in the MX Package Installer under the category “Window Managers” and can be installed easily. Note that these desktops have not been adapted for MX in any way. For more information on the MX Package Installer please refer to the Users Manual Section 3.2.11.

Can I use apps from another desktop on XFCE?

Applications from Window Managers other than XFCE that are in the default repos can be installed. Very often they will bring in other applications and libraries that are dependencies of the application. In some cases full functionality of the installed application may not be achieved and will require some research on how to enable that functionality. Also the appearance of the application may not be consistent with the XFCE default theme.

I hear a lot about this Spectre and Meltdown stuff. Is MX secured? How can I check my system?

You can check the status of the kernel in use by running spectre-meltdown-checker in a root terminal. You will need to install the package from the default Debian Repositories with Synaptic, the MX Package Installer or in a terminal with this command:
sudo apt install spectre-meltdown-checker
Patched kernels are available with status descriptions in the MX Package Installer > Popular Applications: Kernels
Current 32-bit kernels have no Meltdown mitigation and are vulnerable to the attacks. Users should choose MX 64bit if at all possible.

Can I use Flatpaks, Snaps and Appimages?

Stand-alone packages are different in that they are essentially independent from the particular OS and do not need to be installed. For details, consult these pages:
Appimages
Flatpaks
Snaps

How can I add a button to the Panel for one-click logout/shutdown/restart?

MX-18 ships with a logout button. For earlier versions: right-click the Panel > Panel > Add New Items, select Action Buttons, and click Add. Then right-click that newly created panel button > Properties and uncheck everything except what you want to see. Even faster if you leave confirmation unchecked.

Lots of other distros are dropping their 32-bit versions. What about MX?

MX has no plans to discontinue 32-bit releases for the foreseeable future.

What’s the MX release cycle?

We make an official release annually, and use that year for the release number (MX-17 was released at the end of 2017). Because we work closely with our sister distro antiX, and track Xfce developments as well, the release comes toward the end of the year.

I can’t easily resize windows because the borders are too thin. Is there a way to do that?

Use Alt-F8 to grab the lower-right window corner and drag to the size you want.

Does MX Linux have an IRC channel?

No, we do not host an IRC Channel.

How can I fix random login problems using Network Manager?

This is usually due to a known bug, see this Wiki article.

There is no install icon on the desktop, so what do I do?

That happens sometimes, especially with personal snapshots. Press F4 to get a terminal, and enter
sudo -E /usr/sbin/minstall

v. 20181210