diff -ru xfdesktop-4.4.2.orig/src/xfdesktop-icon-view.c xfdesktop-4.4.2/src/xfdesktop-icon-view.c
--- xfdesktop-4.4.2.orig/src/xfdesktop-icon-view.c	2008-03-05 18:14:27.790519582 +0100
+++ xfdesktop-4.4.2/src/xfdesktop-icon-view.c	2008-03-05 18:33:07.086926221 +0100
@@ -147,6 +147,9 @@
     
     guint tip_show_id;
     gint tip_timeout;
+    
+    gint cut_icon_label; /* only show full label of desktop-icons when "activated" */
+    
     GtkWidget *tip_window;
     GtkWidget *tip_label;
 };
@@ -339,6 +342,13 @@
                                                  NULL, NULL,
                                                  g_cclosure_marshal_VOID__VOID,
                                                  G_TYPE_NONE, 0);
+
+    gtk_widget_class_install_style_property(widget_class,
+                                            g_param_spec_int("cut-icon-label",
+                                                             "Cut Icon Label",
+                                                             "Cut labels of non-activated Icons on Desktop",
+                                                             0, 1, 1,
+                                                             G_PARAM_READABLE));
     
     gtk_widget_class_install_style_property(widget_class,
                                             g_param_spec_int("label-alpha",
@@ -1318,6 +1328,10 @@
     XfdesktopIconView *icon_view = XFDESKTOP_ICON_VIEW(widget);
     
     gtk_widget_style_get(GTK_WIDGET(icon_view),
+                                     "cut-icon-label", &icon_view->priv->cut_icon_label,
+                                     NULL);
+    DBG("cut icon label is %d", icon_view->priv->cut_icon_label);
+    gtk_widget_style_get(GTK_WIDGET(icon_view),
                          "label-alpha", &icon_view->priv->label_alpha,
                          NULL);
     DBG("label alpha is %d", icon_view->priv->label_alpha);
@@ -1965,7 +1979,7 @@
     pango_layout_set_text(playout, label, -1);
     pango_layout_get_size(playout, &text_area.width, &text_area.height);
     if(text_area.width > TEXT_WIDTH * PANGO_SCALE) {
-        if(icon != icon_view->priv->last_clicked_item)
+        if((icon != icon_view->priv->last_clicked_item) && icon_view->priv->cut_icon_label)
             pango_layout_set_ellipsize(playout, PANGO_ELLIPSIZE_END);
         else {
             pango_layout_set_wrap(playout, PANGO_WRAP_WORD_CHAR);