Apple Dock
By Dave Dekker - Posted on June 21st, 2007
Tagged: Software
I have just been listening to the Tech Guy podcast (Leo Laporte) and he was talking about Apples new OS Leopard and the nice changes to the Dock, in the past I have bitched about the Dock to no end, I always wanted a "Start" bar like Windows XP has to be able to find programs, having all of your programs in one folder is just stupid to me... I prefer to sort them into Folders based on something, I go back and forth with my fellow jouster on this topic, he is anti organization while I like a very structured folder hierarchy for things, it may be due to my career versus his. So now Leo spoke of "Stacks" or something like that, I think it is the ability for an icon on the doc to have more than one item under it... its a friggen folder with a pretty icon..
some how mac users are okay with having to install (not that you really can "install" anything) third party programs such as Quicksilver to aid in being able to find your programs without having to sort through a folder with a GIANT list of applications, shouldn't this simple method of organizing your programs (folders) been part of the OS the whole time? The Apple people will tout this as some new great invention, when its no more than folders on their weak ass Dock.
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My friend above implies that I like the dock as well. If he goes back into his memory banks, he will remember that I am not a fan of the dock either. I don't like it for various reasons including the icons move on you depending on how many apps you have open, this makes it unpredictable as to where the icon is. I don't like how easy it is to throw a folder away while placing it on the dock, this is more for newbies though. I don't like how some windows go behind the dock and some don't. I have seen a lot of newbies stumble on the dock, but they like the eye candy, so it is ok. It's not functional for me and I was disappointed in seeing the minor dock refinements in Leopard.
As far as stacks are concerned, I think it is more than just a folder. It's a new way of looking at your stuff. I click on the stack in the stupid dock and all the items show up in an ark... I like it. Visually and functionally. I see no problem with this new way of looking at my items. If I remember right, my friend Dave still looks at his hierarchy using the ls command, so why would I expect him to embrace a new way of looking at his stuff. LOL
On to the Start bar, even if Mac had a start bar, and I wish it did, I still like some of these apps like quicksilver, because they do more than just launch apps... a lot more. I personally use Spotlight to do all my launching now. It works great!
Folder hierarchy... why have it? I know in some cases it is necessary, such as in Pro E, but in a lot of cases it is not. Think of the day when you can tag items. Each item can have multiple tags. You search for your items by tags and you don't have to remember what folder you placed it in.