#MAKE MAC OS DOCK LIKE WINDOWS TASKBAR MAC OS X#
#MAKE MAC OS DOCK LIKE WINDOWS TASKBAR MOVIE#

Bottom: If there are too many icons to fit in the arc (as determined by your monitor size), you get this grid instead. Or grab an icon and drag it right out of the stack-into another window, say. You can even Option-click one icon after another, opening them all while the stack remains arrayed before you. Click an icon to open it, just as though youРІР‚в„ўd double-clicked it in a window. One day the Safari icon could change to let you know when interesting new Web pages have appeared, the Quicken icon could display your current bank balance, and the Microsoft Word icon could change every time Microsoft posts a bug fix.Р”Р‡igureР’В 4-2.Р’В Top: When you click the icon of a folder or disk on the Dock (just one single click), you get this effect: a rainbow that shows whatРІР‚в„ўs inside.

#MAKE MAC OS DOCK LIKE WINDOWS TASKBAR MOVIE#

And if you minimize a QuickTime movie while itРІР‚в„ўs playing, it shrinks down and continues playing right there in the Dock. Toast illustrates the progress of a disc youРІР‚в„ўre burning. You can make your Activity Monitor graph ( Time Machine) show up right on its icon. (After all, why should you switch into the Mail program if youРІР‚в„ўll only be disappointed?) The America Online icon sprouts a flag to let you know if an instant message is waiting. The Mail icon, for example ( ChapterР’В 19) bears a live counter that indicates how many new email messages are waiting for you. Some program icons even change over time. If the Dock is big enough, you can often tell documents apart just by looking at their icons.

#MAKE MAC OS DOCK LIKE WINDOWS TASKBAR MAC OS X#

Mac OS X brings to life a terrific idea, a new concept in main-stream operating systems: icons that tell you something. Its icon remains there for as long as itРІР‚в„ўs running. But program icons appear on the left side of the Dock automatically whenever you open a program, even one thatРІР‚в„ўs not listed in the Dock. Nobody but you (and Apple) can put icons on the right side of the Dock. ItРІР‚в„ўs like X-ray vision without the awkward moral consequences. If you click a folder or disk icon in the right side of the Dock, a list of its contents sprouts from the icon.

You can often identify a document just by looking at its icon.Р”Р‡olders and disks sprout stacks. When youРІР‚в„ўre trying to find a certain icon in the Dock, run your cursor slowly across the icons without clicking the icon labels appear as you go. YouРІР‚в„ўll see the name appear above the icon. To see the name of a Dock icon, point to it without clicking.

Aliases of applications can go only on the left side, and vice versa.)

If you try to drag an application to the right of the line, for example, Mac OS X teasingly refuses to accept it. ItРІР‚в„ўs important to understand this division. Everything else goes on the right side: files, documents, folders, disks, and minimized windows. Everything on the left side is an application-a program. See the whitish dotted line running down the Dock? ThatРІР‚в„ўs the divider ( FigureР’В 4-1). This section explains everything you need to know. You can customize the thing to within an inch of its life, or even get rid of it completely. Whether or not you agree with AppleРІР‚в„ўs philosophy (and not everyone does), Apple has made it as easy as possible to learn to like the Dock. Only a tiny white reflective dot beneath a programРІР‚в„ўs icon tells you that itРІР‚в„ўs open. You can open dozens of programs at once in Mac OS X.Р”Р„nd thatРІР‚в„ўs why the Dock combines the launcher and status functions of a modern operating system. РІР‚СљWhich programs are openРІР‚Сњ already approaches unimportance in Mac OS X, where sophisticated memory-management features make it hard to run out of memory. A program should appear when you click its icon, whether itРІР‚в„ўs open or not-like on a PalmPilot, for example. In an ideal world, this distinction should be irrelevant. In Mac OS X, Apple combined both functions into a single strip of icons called the Dock.Р”Р„ppleРІР‚в„ўs thinking goes like this: Why must you know whether or not a program is already running? ThatРІР‚в„ўs the computerРІР‚в„ўs problem, not yours. The other kept track of which programs were open at the moment for easy switching, like the taskbar (Windows) or the Application menu (Mac OS 9). One listed unopened programs until you need them, like the Start menu (Windows) or the Launcher (Mac OS 9). For years, most operating systems maintained two different lists of programs.

Make mac os dock like windows taskbar