I've gotten a little used to the Budgie Desktop after installing the SwagArch version of it. I liked the SwagArch distro but (there's always a but) I find some of the updates to not be ready for install but showing up in Pamac (Add Software) and the updates not having the right credentials(?), showing errors and not updating. Usually the next day the updates would push through but I'm too nitpicky to overlook this and want to do the updates when they show available. Nothing against SwagArch, it is a fine Budgie desktop and the only desktop environment that SwagArch offers. I just don't think they have the community that Manjaro has, and the person that runs SwagArch can't do everything as fast as larger, more supported distros. After writing that last sentence it kind of makes me want to switch back.
Manjaro has basically the same desktop, an Arch-based OS with all the same features, except the Manjaro Budgie comes with a few more programs that I don't use and doesn't include programs like Gimp that I do use. I can always remove the programs I never use and add Gimp and Inkscape with Pamac, which is probably the best modern Package Manager that I've used, which isn't based on a lot.
Budgie on its own is not very customizable through Settings and the Budgie Desktop Settings. I can't put my finger on it but it seems when I compare the settings manager in XFCE to the settings manager in Budgie I seem to be missing some things. Also, I installed the XFCE4 Terminal, keeping Gnome Terminal in case it creates a problem, so I could set some transparency in terminal. I did add Screenfetch to get the system info to printout when I open terminal. As far as the desktop, the top panel lacks a lot of customization, like right-clicking on the Workspace Switcher and being able to add rows, so to keep my top bar clean, I just have 2 desktops instead of my usual 4.
I do like a lot of things with Budgie. I say that the top panel is not that customizable but it does allow you to add applets to the center of the panel, which is a plus. I do like the weather applet allowing you to show the weather on your desktop, sort of like Conky. I also added Plank, the launcher at the bottom of the desktop. It's stupidly simple, which is the description of it in Pamac because you just right-click on any open program that shows up in Plank after it has been launched and select "Keep in Dock". There is no more customization that you can do. I've used Docky and Cairo but for the simplicity of Budgie, I thought Plank was best suited. Just remember to add Conky and Plank commands to your autostart in Budgie Desktop Settings. I was able to disable the IPv6 in my Ethernet settings following the instructions in the ArchWiki on IPv6 to make my VPN support a little happier. Manjaro has its own wiki but doesn't have the instructions that the ArchWiki has. I haven't tried adding any themes yet, I'm just using the stock themes that came with Budgie but I would like to try a different Icon theme. Also, I did see a button theme that I want to try on Reddit, sort of a block style, but I don't know how that would look on programs that I use that don't take up much real estate on my desktop. I've installed Dropbox since the screenshot, which I installed using the nautilus-dropbox package in Pamac using the AUR repository. It worked like a charm and Pamac even added Dropbox to my autostart in Budgie Desktop Settings as well as the icon in the top panel. Now if the thunar-dropbox in XFCE works this well I will be a happy camper. I've always used the script on the Dropbox download page.
Speaking of Conky, I'm now using it. I used it back in the old days before Debian moved from Gnome 2 to the modern Gnome 3 style and Ubuntu switching over to its dock style. I was watching a Solus Budgie review on YouTube and ran across a video by NeonCipher that was a Conky how-to guide and he shared his conky.conf file. So I downloaded it and made the changes to match my old Acer laptop, like my external IP address that shows up in my screenshot for my privacy. I've commented the real external IP line out for the screenshot then moved the '#' to the one shown in the screenshot. I then added my "Manhattanhenge" background that I found on Bing.
One thing that really surprised me was that late last night Conky was showing me using over 5G or my 8G memory and I didn't have any programs open, and the list of processes shown on my Conky did not show anything using over 5%. (While I was writing this my memory usage was just under 6G.) A restart was required for me to fix this since for me to open terminal and look at my processes that were running and killing the PID's would have taken me longer than the restart. I haven't run Conky on my XFCE SSD yet so I don't know if that is common on my setup or the way I use my OS or if it's a Budgie thing. Between this issue and the amount of customization allowed in Budgie are the only negatives I have when it comes to using Budgie. Then again the lack of customization is one of the things I like about Budgie. So far when it comes to desktop environments Budgie ranks 3rd, behind KDE and XFCE, and above Gnome and Cinnamon. One day I'll run Mate, but that will probably be a ways off. I liked this Budgie so much I made a backup of it for easy re-installation if I want to use it again or load it on my main SSD. I just might use this as my 'go to' OS but I've got to try Manjaro XFCE on a fresh install and compare.
On a different note, I've started adding more links in these 'reviews' to help you and to help my failing memory.
