I extensively use the Xfce panel to monitor my system. I like having a picture of its state without having to launch any diagnostic tool. This proves to be quite useful! Also, should my computer experience a sudden problem and not respond anymore, I can glance at its last state before rebooting.
I have never liked the excess of colors that is present on the bar, though:

This takes away from noticing effortlessly whenever something out of the ordinary is occurring. So I put everything (or as much as possible) in gray shades. I managed to change its appearance quite easily: