When logging in for the first time (no ~/.xfce4 present), the panel won't react to any settings changes (e.g. changing the panel orientation from horizontal to vertical has no effect). At next login the panel settings were set back to default, but from now on any further changes in the settings are accepted and applied immediately (as it should be). I guess I have the latest CVS (20040622) of all relevant packages installed.
Maybe we need a xfce_init() function that creates the necessary config directories...
Fixed for the panel. Perhaps a more general solution should be found.