One last screenshot shows how closely this dock matches the Workspace Switcher applet on its Solus Plasma host. That's an arrangement I've developed over many years, so it makes me very comfortable. The only differences are the addition of the Xfce screenshot utility on the left of the dock, and the two extra workspaces on the host that I use for VirtualBox and its VMs.
The VM has both the dock and a Workspace Switcher, of course, because functionally they're very different. One launches apps, while the other provides a place to use them. So one doesn't really render the other one redundant. Having both, thought, just about means that the other panel has to be at the top of the screen. That's the part I'm having a little trouble getting used to, but then, I'm only on my third day with Xfce as a daily driver.
The alternative to the dock isn't the workspaces -- it's the task manager. That fits on the bottom panel of the Plasma display with the workspace switcher applet, so there's no need for a panel at the top and another one at the bottom. In defense of that Xfce arrangement, though, I have to say that the top panel is very thin, and the dock hides very intelligently, so the client area of the Xfce display is probably just a little larger than on Plasma, or Budgie, and certainly compared to GNOME.
To be honest, I don't believe it would ever replace Plasma for me. This has been a very interesting experiment, though. I'm impressed with how well this immature Xfce DE has worked for me, and I think that argues for its becoming an official Solus edition sooner, rather than later. And believe it or not, I actually like Xfce's Screenshot utility better than KDE's Spectacle. This VM is certainly a keeper. 😊
EDIT: Oops, I forgot the settings. On the right end of my workspace switcher are the system settings, file manager, and terminal. I've fixed that on the dock now, but it's not worth another screenshot.