# What's in your Dock? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 5, 2004, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-dock/267669 "2004-10-05T16:59:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![wheelie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b4bc9f/32.png) [@wheelie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wheelie)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-dock/267669/21 "2004-10-07T04:45:27Z")
What the hell, Finder Mail Safari Sherlock iChat(never used) Address Book iCal World Book Calculator Virtual PC iTunes iPhoto iMovie iDvd GarageBand Audacity Toast 6 Titanium Jam 6 TextEdit AppleWorks6 Dvd Player Quicktime KisMAC (netstumbler) Disk Utility Activity Monitor(stays active w/cpu usage displayed) Terminal Temperature Monitor(always active) Trash ---
**Author:** ![MidnightRadio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@MidnightRadio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MidnightRadio)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-dock/267669/22 "2004-10-07T15:00:08Z")
Finder, FireFox, Fire, Mail, iTunes, Address Book, iCal, Calculator, iPhoto, DVD Player, System Preferences, AppleWorks 6, TextEdit. And after the little divide: A couple of AppleWorks spreadsheet files, a minimized FireFox window, and the Trash. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-dock/267669/23 "2004-10-07T16:17:48Z")
Am I the only OS X user who refuses to use the damn thing? ---
**Author:** ![shy\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@shy\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shy_guy)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-dock/267669/24 "2004-10-07T18:10:05Z")
I order mine from most-used to least-used programs (the ones I almost never use at all or I only use when opening files that use them anyway aren’t even on the dock). Finder Firefly AIM iTunes Mail System Preferences Poisoned (which’ll be on the way out soon since it got crappy with its latest update) Limewire Appleworks Calculator iChat (_never_ use this, no idea why I keep it on there) iCal VLC Windows Media Player Photoshop Quicktime Safari Preview ---
**Author:** ![MidnightRadio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@MidnightRadio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MidnightRadio)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-dock/267669/25 "2004-10-08T18:23:55Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > Am I the only OS X user who refuses to use the damn thing? How do you _not_ use it? I mean, you can make the computer hide it until you move your cursor to the dock’s part of the screen, but how do you access your programs and files then? And is there a way to get rid of the dock rather than just hiding it? ---
**Author:** ![sunfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@sunfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunfish)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-dock/267669/26 "2004-10-08T18:35:06Z")
I’m a left-dock kind of gal, myself. It currently has: Finder Virtual PC start-up Safari @time (lets you keep track of the time elsewhere in the world) iCal Eudora iTunes LimeWire Snapz Pro Stickies Word Excel Yahoo IM Preview Downloads folder shortcut shortcut to an app in development, for which I’m helping to write the manual Trash I have short-cuts to every other app I use frequently set up within [X-Assist](http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/10519), because otherwise the dock would be too damn crowded. I’m amazed at the number of apps some of you are squeezing in there! ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-dock/267669/27 "2004-10-08T18:35:56Z")
> [@MidnightRadio](#): > > How do you _not_ use it? I mean, you can make the computer hide it until you move your cursor to the dock’s part of the screen, but how do you access your programs and files then? A few options off the top of my head: Finder and shortcuts on your Desktop. Also, if you go to your Apple menu, you’ll find that you have a menu of recently-accessed applications and documents under “Recent Items.” I find this very handy! ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Doubt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/df705f/32.png) [@Peter\_Doubt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Doubt)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-dock/267669/28 "2004-10-08T18:58:04Z")
Finder System Prefs Safari iCal Address Book Mail iTunes Sherlock ? hold on a second. . . . fixed that, nevermind Omnigaffle Sims Livin Large MS Word Remote Desktop Calculator TextEdit iPhoto Acquisition iChat Preview Heredis Big Bang Chess Mars24 Balance Pro ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-dock/267669/29 "2004-10-08T20:07:48Z")
**MidnightRadio** : > [@](#): > > Originally Posted by **AHunter3** : > > > [@](#): > > > > Am I the only OS X user who refuses to use the damn thing? > > How do you not use it? I mean, you can make the computer hide it until you move your cursor to the dock’s part of the screen, but how do you access your programs and files then? And is there a way to get rid of the dock rather than just hiding it? a) As root user in the Finder, drag Dock.app out of /System/Library/CoreServices to /Applications; or, alternatively run this in terminal: _sudo mv /System/Library/CoreServices/Dock.app /Applications/Dock.app_ b) Go into the Accounts PrefsPane and add Dock (at its new location) to the list of Startup Items. c) Open Script Editor and create and save, as an Application, the following script: ```auto tell the application "Dock" activate quit end tell ``` Save it as “Kill Dock” or some such thing, put it in /Applications or /Applications/Utilities if you prefer, and add it also to your Startup Items, obviously somewhere below Dock. (In fact, if you have several items, put Dock at the top and the Kill Dock app at the bottom). OK, that covers the basics. You do that, you have no Dock. Now, for the other stuff. d/e) You need a way to launch programs. God knows almost anything would be better than the bloody Dock as an app launcher, and there’s no shortage of freeware apps for it. You also need a convenient process switcher to switch between running applications, and again there are plenty available. Me, I kill this bird-pair with the proverbial single stone, using X-Assist, which gives you a MacOS 9 style application menu at the rh edge of your menubar, showing running applications, and which also provides you with a totally customizable launch menu. I divide mine up by application genre. As alternatives to X-Assist, may I suggest FruitMenu as applauncher (it’s essentialy an OS 9 style totally editable Apple Menu, which means you can put applications in folders and subfolders within it and use that part of the Apple Menu as your launcher) and ASM (application switcher menu) as an application switcher. Another popular choice is Drop Drawers. Go to VersionTracker and read the blurbs and check out the screen shots. f) You don’t absolutely need, but would probably appreciate, a means of minimizing or hiding individual windows without hiding the whole application. WindowShade X gives you some very nice options including OS 7/8/9 style WindowShading, making the window go translucent or transparent, or minimize-in-place to a small Desktop icon that pops back up when you click on it. I think there are other options but I’ve never looked beyond WindowShade X. g) You don’t often but will occasionally need a way to open the Trash can, to filch something back out of it or peek into it to see what’s in there. (You can delete things, of course, with no visible Trash can simply via Command-Delete). You could, of course, simply launch the Dock (in its new home you can launch it at will like any other app; you’ll need to run Kill Dock to make it quit afterwards though, no File:Quit menu command); or you can do what I did, make an alias to the invisible .Trash of your user folder while logged in as root (or by using TinkerTook to make all files and folders visible, if you prefer) and putting that Alias on your Desktop at lower right where the Trash can oughta be. Or, as a third alternative, you can write an AppleScript and save as Application: ```auto tell application "Finder" activate make new Finder window to item ".Trash" of folder "YourUserName" of folder "Users" of startup disk end tell ``` ---
**Author:** ![beagledave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-dock/267669/30 "2004-10-08T22:39:44Z")
> [@MidnightRadio](#): > > How do you _not_ use it? I mean, you can make the computer hide it until you move your cursor to the dock’s part of the screen, but how do you access your programs and files then? And is there a way to get rid of the dock rather than just hiding it? You can use the KnockOutDock scipt from [here](http://fixa.troubledmac.com/) to get rid of the Dock. Like I posted above…I like the DragThing interface for my apps. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-dock/267669/31 "2004-10-09T00:00:06Z")
Finder ( why be different?? ) Mail iChat Internet Explorer Safari Sherlock Address Book Final Vinyl ( for use with Griffin Technology’s iMic ) iCal iTunes iPhoto iMovie Quicktime Player System Preferences Using Mac OS-X Jaguar. Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_On\_My\_Sleeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/77aa72/32.png) [@Heart\_On\_My\_Sleeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_On_My_Sleeve)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-dock/267669/32 "2004-10-09T02:25:47Z")
Mine’s on the left: Finder Calculator Adobe Acrobat Virtual PC IE Outlook Express System Preferences Palm Desktop [EquinoX](http://www.microprojects.ca/MPjEquinoxPage.html) Photoshop iTunes Soundtrack Quark Xpress Safari MetroGnome Acrobat Distiller Chordbook Illustrator Timbuktu Pro TextEdit Probably time to clean it up since I use my PC these days for most of that stuff :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-dock/267669/33 "2004-10-09T02:43:05Z")
Left to right; Finder Classic Startup System Preferences X3 0.1.1 Disk Utility System Profiler Printer Setup Utility Activity Monitor Terminal Network Utility Temperature Monitor AirPort Admin Utility Backup Calculator Mail Safari FireFox OmniWeb Camino Mozilla iCab Sherlock windoze media player Address Book iChat iTunes iPhoto iMovie GarargeBand iCal Acrobat Reader 5.0 TextEdit AppleWorks 6 Adobe Photoshop 7.0 Preview GraphicConverter DVD Player VLC MPlayer OS X 2 Bejeweled Deluxe Super MahJong Wingnuts Uli’s Moose Command & Conquer Generals The Sims Hot Date The Sims House Party Aliens Vs. Predator Unreal Tournament 2003 SETI@home [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-in-your-dock/267669.md?page=1)