smaller buttons in panel - possible ?

In ZorinOS 5.2 the closest it can be gotten to the very plain appearance of win2k is desired - and also it is desirable to un-mess the application entries in the Gnome panel.
I tried searching here for related previous queries & answers=> but look what I got ?!?!:

The following words in your search query were ignored because they are too common words: gnome panel.

Very un-helpful I'd say...

So instead I must ask=>
The Gnome panel shows each application entry as icon+text; and when there are 4 or more entries the text becomes shortened & useless. The Compiz 'preview' feature is also on and it is very helpful.
I've seen mention of a width setting for the Window List Applet, but this is missing in mine...

Question:
Is there any way by which the application entries in Gnome panel may be made much smaller - perhaps if they may be set to only display their icon and NO text ?
I have seen something like this in use by others, but have no idea how to create this (very neat) effect in ZorinOS.

Thanks.

Thanks Swarfendor437 for both replies.
As to the first posting's suggestions, I re-tried all that and it didn't help at all.
The 2nd one is about height - which is not what I am asking about.

Imagine what I mean this way if you will, please:
Firefox is open - and now it's tab has it's icon and the window title.
But since 4-5 other things are open the title is cut-off and of no use at all.

I am asking if the window titles can be gone somehow from those tabs, leaving only their icons.

Thanks !

try adding the "task manager" applet on the panel

TequilaMex wrote:try adding the "task manager" applet on the panel

Hi TequilaMex and thanks for replying.
I went to 'add to panel' and there is no entry for anything called "task manager" in the applet list.
Is this something one must download and install manually ?

Thanks.

Wow - how has my query gone from application entries in the PANEL=> to Firefox ???
Firefox is 100% fine.
It is the Gnome Panel I am asking about.

Hi,

what DE are you running with Z5, is it XP or Gnome??, you have spoken about Gnome but I just want to be clear!.

Regards Wolfman

From what I can tell it is Gnome - certainly what I refer to is the Gnome Panel.

Wolfman wrote:what DE are you running with Z5, is it XP or Gnome??, you have spoken about Gnome but I just want to be clear!.

Is there a precise/exact manner in when I can verify which DE is running, please ?

OK, so it's definitely Gnome, and I am for sure talking about what isn't seen in any of those screenshots - which is the entries which appear in the small gray panel (bar) at the bottom when things are open.
Much the same as they do in the win-doze taskbar.

My query remains the same:
Is there any way to shorten the right-to-left size of those - perhaps to the size of just their icons - because once 4-5 things are in use the text serves no useful purpose any longer (it just becomes a truncated mess).

Thanks.

Hi,

all I can find for Gnome DE is using Dconf Editor:

dconf-editor > org > gnome > gnome panel > layout > bottom panel

That said, it doesn't seem to do much but I am using Zorin 6 and maybe on 5 it will work!!.

Regards Wolfman

Well I guess this must be impossible in ZorinOS 5.2 then.

Every suggestion has been tried and a few not from here besides - but...nuttin happens.

Dconf-editor was a huge updating process before it finally opened, and still no joy.

I know I've seen smaller application entries for sure; my imagination is just not so good as for me to have imagined this.
Perhaps it is time to consider this a forlorn hope in this OS...

But still - thanks for trying !!!

Hi,

have you added the gnome themes packages??.

Open Synaptic then type: "gnome themes" and look and see if there are any further packages that you can install that will help you.

Regards Wolfman

swarfendor437 wrote:I think TequilaMex's response was based on 6 - not 5.2! Task Manager is part of Awn Settings in 6!

sorry for my mistake