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The Dock.. plus
· Software · 50 posts · May 9, 2005 — May 12, 2005 View original thread ↗
#1 Mon, 9 May 2005 - 15:31
The Dock. It has been with us since 10.0 and amazingly it has been unchanged since 10.0 minor background changes not included..

Perhaps there isn't much to do about the Dock.. still, this thread is created for Dock requests, gripes and bugs and things you'd like to see fixed/changed/added in a future version of the Dock.

What I would like to see:

� The option to require a double-click on an icon in the Dock to open it. I find it all to common that my finger slips a bit on the trackpad and *wham* I'm opening Photoshop now!! [insert hard-drive crunching and me trying to forcequit PS]

� The option to make it go away completely - essentially turn it off. This can be achieved with a hack but I don't want to get rid of the Dock. Simply there are times when I do not want to see it and do not want it to pop up. There are times when I simply do not need it at all.

� Being able to close minimized windows in the Dock without having to maximize them and then close them. Just a contextual menu [i.e. right-click] on a minimized window and choose "close". Would be really nice.

� I'd like to see more graphical feedback options in the Dock. For instance the neat hack where hidden apps become transparent in the Dock. I think that would be a nice [official] option! The minimized windows of an hidden app disappear from the Dock but the app icon shows no feedback that the app is hidden.

� The trash should not be hardwired to the Dock. I don't see why this should be. Completely empty the Dock and all you have left is the Finder and the trash. The Finder can be approached without the Dock (alt-Tab for instance) but the trash can *only* be approached through the Dock. I don't agree with that - is that then really what the Dock is for?

Please feel free to add comments about the Dock or discuss my (eccentric) opionions

What would you like to see in a future Dock?
#2 Mon, 9 May 2005 - 16:18
Quote:
Originally Posted by Weyland-Yutani
The Dock. It has been with us since 10.0 and amazingly it has been unchanged since 10.0 minor background changes not included..

I wouldn't call Expos� and Dashboard "minor background changes".

Quote:
� Being able to close minimized windows in the Dock without having to maximize them and then close them. Just a contextual menu [i.e. right-click] on a minimized window and choose "close". Would be really nice.

This is possible already, but requires application support. The Finder supports this for example.
#3 Mon, 9 May 2005 - 16:46
I want popup folders!!!!

Even better I think that the iTunes dock icon should have little play/pause/skip buttons on it so you can click them to ajust iTunes and not have to click, hold and scroll.
#4 Mon, 9 May 2005 - 17:18
Quote:
Originally Posted by TETENAL
I wouldn't call Expos� and Dashboard "minor background changes".


Good point. Though I guess, those were changes to Dock.app, but not to `the Dock' as UI element.
I totally agree with SWG that popup folders would be nice.

I actually like the Trash in the Dock, though I wish more apps used the Trash as a UI element -- e.g., dragging toolbar items to the Trash -- and would like the Dock to take on some more shelf-like behaviors, e.g. dropping text fragments onto it.
#5 Mon, 9 May 2005 - 17:39
Pin to a corner rather than centered as an option
#6 Mon, 9 May 2005 - 17:39
I can't see how Expos� and Dashboard have anything to do with the Dock.. I'm talking about the application launcher found by default at the bottom of the screen.

Please don't go confusing a really simple discussion TETANAL

@Mithras

The trash is fine where it is IMO and I tried to underline that as well as I could. It is however only available from the Dock and I don't see why the Dock should have exlusive rights to the trash. It is just an invisible folder on the HD after all.. one idea would be to have the trash in the sidabar of the metal Finder windows where the drives and other folders are.

@Skywalker

Yep, more UI elements could be introduced to the Dock icons.. clickable ones for instance. Apps like Adium have a lot of graphical feedback in the app icon and that is pretty neat.

@ everyone

one flaw with the Dock I can think of is that it can become very very small. Some people actually prefer it that way. That would make enhanced UI elements in Dock icons a problem. Nothing critical, since if one are using the Dock in a very small mode one isn't really using it to see visual clues.

I think the world is ready for a Dock 2.0!
#7 Mon, 9 May 2005 - 18:16
what about incorporating ideas that have been tried and proven by third-parties? DragThing and Object Dock+ both have tabbed docks, which I find invaluable on both my computers. Surely this would not be too difficult for Apple to code for??
#8 Mon, 9 May 2005 - 18:28
Quote:
Originally Posted by orwell
what about incorporating ideas that have been tried and proven by third-parties? DragThing and Object Dock+ both have tabbed docks, which I find invaluable on both my computers. Surely this would not be too difficult for Apple to code for??

Yeah, Apple hasn't been shy about getting inspirations from 3rd party apps before. There's lots of good ideas out there to borrow! The Dock is very central to the OS X experience, so I am surprised that Apple hasn't made an effort to focus on features in the Dock.

#9 Mon, 9 May 2005 - 20:11
Quote:
Originally Posted by leperkuhn
Pin to a corner rather than centered as an option

It is an option. You can pin it left or right.
#10 Mon, 9 May 2005 - 20:14
� The option to require a double-click on an icon in the Dock to open it. I find it all to common that my finger slips a bit on the trackpad and *wham* I'm opening Photoshop now!! [insert hard-drive crunching and me trying to forcequit PS]
i agree. which is why i've decided to leave photoshop and other processor intensive applications off the dock and just use quicksilver.

� The option to make it go away completely - essentially turn it off. This can be achieved with a hack but I don't want to get rid of the Dock. Simply there are times when I do not want to see it and do not want it to pop up. There are times when I simply do not need it at all.
it would be nice to have an option to do everything, yes. i probably don't need this though.

� Being able to close minimized windows in the Dock without having to maximize them then close them. Just a contextual menu [i.e. right-click] on a minimized window and choose "close". Would be really nice.
yeah, when i switched from windows, i could right click on an app on the ?start bar? and close it from there, so when I came here, it was kind of sad.

� I'd like to see more graphical feedback options in the Dock. For instance the neat hack where hidden apps become transparent in the Dock. I think that would be a nice [official] option! The minimized windows of an hidden app disappear from the Dock but the app icon shows no feedback that the app is hidden.
of course, again, more options are nice but i don't need them, especially graphical ones

� The trash should not be hardwired to the Dock. I don't see why this should be. Completely empty the Dock and all you have left is the Finder and the trash. The Finder can be approached without the Dock (alt-Tab for instance) but the trash can *only* be approached through the Dock. I don't agree with that - is that then really what the Dock is for?
another one i don't really mind. sometimes i notice it, and sometimes i don't.
#11 Mon, 9 May 2005 - 20:17
Quote:
Originally Posted by TETENAL


This is possible already, but requires application support. The Finder supports this for example.


unfortunately, not many (if any at all) applications support it, even those made by Apple.
#12 Mon, 9 May 2005 - 20:17
Quote:
Originally Posted by fulmer
It is an option. You can pin it left or right.

I don't think he's talking about the same option as you are. Imagine having the Dock placed on the bottom of the screen and then pinned all the way to the left or right. This is more than just placement of the Dock on the left, right, or bottom.
#13 Mon, 9 May 2005 - 20:26
A double click feature would be nice, as I too end up opening an unwanted app because my finger slipped. Other than that, I'm very satisfied with the dock.
#14 Mon, 9 May 2005 - 20:42
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ricky
I don't think he's talking about the same option as you are. Imagine having the Dock placed on the bottom of the screen and then pinned all the way to the left or right. This is more than just placement of the Dock on the left, right, or bottom.


There is a hidden preference to pin the dock to the left or right (top or bottom if it's on the side of the screen).

You can edit the preference in Terminal (check macosxhints for specifics) ot using TinkerTool.

I agree that Apple should provide a GUI for more of the hidden options.
#15 Mon, 9 May 2005 - 22:45
of course you can empty the trash with keyboard shortcuts and through the finder. what are you talking about trash being dock-only.

anyway, more shelf-like behavior would be nice, but (especially for those of us on 12" screen) after a point the more items tossed in the dock the smaller and smaller the dock becomes --> serious usability issues.
#16 Mon, 9 May 2005 - 23:03
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tesseract
There is a hidden preference to pin the dock to the left or right (top or bottom if it's on the side of the screen).

Or.

~/User/YOU/Library/Prefences

Look for com.apple.dock.plist.

Open it with Property List Editor (From Developer Install)

On the list look for pinning
Change it to either
Start , Middle , end
(Left , Middle , Right) is what it means.

Save and either quit dock or log out

I forgot the command to kill the dock i had an apple script of it once but cant find it.


To say on topic i think the dock should be able to have Quick Launch. Kinda like Tiger launch but in the dock. Being able to remove The trash and stick it on my desktop instead would be nice. even though i know the alias trick

A free floating dock would be nice sometimes when a file gets stuck down in that corner and i cant get it out. . I Think apple needs to focus on that! i hate it. i have to move all my files to the right side of the screen just so they dont get lost under the dock

Dock is a nice little app that Should really be fixed up to work as anything we want in it.
#17 Mon, 9 May 2005 - 23:14
Quote:
Originally Posted by jay3ld
Or.
I forgot the command to kill the dock i had an apple script of it once but cant find it.

In Terminal: killall Dock
#18 Mon, 9 May 2005 - 23:20
remember in 10.2 beta where you could minimize windows 'in place', drag minimized windows out of the dock and throw them around the screen and they would stick to the side?
#20 Tue, 10 May 2005 - 02:52
I'd like an option to "lock" the icons -- to prevent the icons from being dragged out accidentally (especially by other users if I'm sharing my computer).

#21 Tue, 10 May 2005 - 06:12
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ji Eun
of course you can empty the trash with keyboard shortcuts and through the finder. what are you talking about trash being dock-only.

The trash is dock only.

Emptying it .. is irrelevant.

The only way to see the trash is in the Dock. If you like your Dock small, you aren't going to see much of the trash.

The only way to open the trash is through the Dock. There are simple hacks for sure to achieve Finder access, the trash is just a folder after all but officially access is only through the Dock.

The trash cannot be moved from the Dock. In fact asides from one "empty trash" command that can be found in the Finder the trash is 100% bound to the ... Dock and nothing else.

That's what I'm talking about when I say the trash is Dock-only. What the heck were YOU talking about???
#23 Tue, 10 May 2005 - 06:34
^^ Have used that and its great - just a shame its not Tiger combatible yet
#24 Tue, 10 May 2005 - 06:37
Bummer. Oh well.
#26 Tue, 10 May 2005 - 15:54
Very nice mock-ups!

I am looking forward to TransparentDock for 10.4 too! I'm sure that app hasn't escaped Apple, I'm sure they're looking at it with the xerox machine close at hand /joke

#27 Tue, 10 May 2005 - 16:13
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tesseract
There is a hidden preference to pin the dock to the left or right (top or bottom if it's on the side of the screen).

You can edit the preference in Terminal (check macosxhints for specifics) ot using TinkerTool.

I agree that Apple should provide a GUI for more of the hidden options.


You can pin the Dock to the right, and that would fix the trashcan positioning, but then all the other icons are no longer in the middle (which I prefer). I would like a solution where the trash is always in the bottom right corner, but have the dock icons remain centered on screen (disassociate the trashcan from the dock, at least visually).

That way I only have to make one big gesture with the mouse to find the trash instead of aiming it with the mouse. (in OS 9, I used to meticulously put the trashcan such that the bottom right pixel is covered)
#28 Tue, 10 May 2005 - 16:21
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#29 Tue, 10 May 2005 - 16:26
Oh, and the ability to display folders that are labeled...

(This in itself speaks volumes about how retarded the current Labels implementation is...)
#30 Tue, 10 May 2005 - 16:30
Some of you might be interested in this:

10 years of dragthing

Quote:
The reason there wasn't much DragThing development between 1998 and 2000 is because I was then part of the team working in secret on the Finder and Mac OS X Dock at Apple. I felt then that the Dock would ultimately replace DragThing. However, for a variety of reasons, I left Apple shortly after Aqua and the Dock were announced in January 2000, and very little of my code survives in the current Dock. I moved back to Scotland, and work started on DragThing 4 soon after.

Update: I'm reliably informed that none of my original code survives in the current Dock. Thanks John for rubbing that in :-)

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