gnome 3 refugee: obstructive panel in xfce

[Hendrik Boom <hendrik@topoi.pooq.com>]

I've fled from gnome 3 and am mostly happy with xfce.  But there's the 
panel with six icons at the bottom of the screen that obscures the bottom 
of a lot of windows.  How can I get rid  of it, or move it elsewhere?  Is 
it possible to move it to be part of the strip at the top, for example?  
In a pinch, I suppose I could get rid of it, because all those tools seem 
to be available as part of the applications menu anyway. 

The screen savers are pretty, but would it be possible to have them just 
go blank and save power when the laptop in not plugged in?

-- hendrik