DockBarX 0.39.1 was just released, bringing a new preview system (ported from vanilla dockbar) that has live previews instead of stills.
To use the new previews system, you need CompizConfig Settings Manager (sudo apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager) and then check the "KDE Compatibility" plugin - yes, even in GNOME. Once you enable this plugin, in DockBarX preferences, on the Advanced tab, enable Window Previews.
The new DockBarX 0.39.1 also brings support for Avant Window Navigator 0.4.1. We'll tell you how to install everything below (DockBarX 0.39.1 .deb files available in the WebUpd8 PPA as usual).
To install the latest DockBarX, simply add the WebUpd8 PPA (for Ubuntu Karmic and Lucid):
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8 && sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install dockbarx
Or manually download the .deb files from the WebUpd8 PPA if you want.
To get DockBarX to work with Avant Window Navigator 0.4.1 (from the AWN testing PPA) - or AWN 0.4 from Ubuntu Lucid official repositories -, download the DockBarX source from HERE, then extract it and simply copy the contents of the AWN folder (not the AWN folder itself) to the ~/.config/awn/applets/ folder. Then you'll have a new applet called "DockBarX" in the AWN settings. Since DockBarX settings are not available from within AWN, you can customize it via Applications > Accessories > DockBarX Preference.
Everyhing will work as in the Gnome Panel DockbarX such as themes, window previews and so on, making Avant Window Navigator more beautiful then ever. One thing that won't work is AWN effects such as 3D turn, squish and so on - those are only available for the built-in Avant Window Navigator taskbar.
Because DockBarX recently added support for Zeitgeist, this also means that using it with AWN, you'll be getting Zeitgeist recently used and most used documents in Avant Window Navigator (don't forget to install Zeitgeist):
The DockBarX themes will also work in Avant Window Navigator:
But of course, you don't need AWN to run DockBarX if you don't want to: