03.02.00
Mac OS X, Aqua, and the Dock
I posted this note to the <http://www.tidbits.com> discussion list but thought that other might be interested in it here.
When the Aqua interface for Mac OS X was introduced at Macworld SF, there’s was a lot of heated discussion in many forums. I stopped listening to any of them, because everyone was basising their arguments and dislikes based on a single demo presented by the founder of the Reality Distortion Field. I think the topic is worth of discussion now because there are people who have hands on experience. (Though I am not one of the lucky few…) More notes and reviews have been posted throughout the web.
As they have for the previous releases, Ars Technica has a great review of the OS and the Interface. I highly suggest that everyone read this review, as it’s great place to start.
<http://www.arstechnica.com/reviews/1q00/macos-x-dp3/macos-x-dp3-1.html>
Having read it (and every other article I could get my hands on) It’s obvious that there are some significant problems with the Dock, particularly in it’s lack of any sort of structure when it comes to organization.
For those of us running lowly OS 8 or 9, I would suggest that everyone take a look at Malph
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=01488>
which (as of the last version I used) had nearly identical functionality as the current ‘Dock’ has in DP3 (at least from what I’ve read). I used Malph for quite a while, and was pretty happy with it, though it’s mix of active applications and aliases lent itself to some awkwardness when it came to arranging things.
The Dock however has one important limitation when compared to Malph: The Dock can only grow along a straight line. There is no ability to have a second row. This can become quite frustrating.
But about two years ago I switched (and paid for) DragThing <http://www.dragthing.com> which is far more customizable. Each of the DragThing docks are scalable, resizable and place-able. And there’s a *separate* dock for active applications. This, in combination with 5 ‘tabbed’ folders, provides me with separate access points for my main applications, my work folders and my active applications. Each of these three general ‘types’ of aliases or access points are important and efficient for me. (Summary: There’s 3 thing I need quick access to: Active Apps, Inactive Apps, and Work folders.)
And note that for Applications I frequently use, the names are unimportant. I can tell what something is by it’s icon, and by how I have it placed on the screen. However for working folders (which are inside the tabbed folders at the bottom of the screen) I need the folder names to distinguish them. I want all of those folder names visible when I’m getting to a work folder. The listing view of those folders in a tabbed window works perfectly. (Summary: Apps don’t need labels, Work folders do.)
I understand that not everyone needs as much customization or functionality as DragThing provides. At it’s worst, it provides the user with _far_ too much functionality. Nor does everyone use the drag and drop capabilities of the Mac interface to the extent that I do.
However the OS X Dock runs too far in the opposite direction, having ever less functionality than Malph. The Dock blurs the three ‘type’ distinctions, while changing the Active App ‘type’ to be Active Windows, expanding it’s population quite a bit. And then it removes effective methods of organizing them.
The above methods don’t even touch the Apple Menu use for accessing ‘secondary’ applications that I never drag and drop to: CD/DVD players, Calculator, Chooser. There’s no effective method for organizing items like that from what I’ve read.
It seems that to me that many people agree that the Dock needs to revamped or opened to more customization for those who need it. Or, there’s needs to be the option to turn it off for those who will replace it with DragThing, OneClick, etc.
In any case, Apple needs to hear about these worries, complaints and concerns. They listened to the Mac community when we balked about putting a 33.6k modem into the iMac, and only a few of us were actually going to buy one any time soon. Now’s the time to raise your voice about this issue if you feel it’s important. It can change things.
As for me, something that’s going to take up a full 1/5th of my future desktop is something to voice my concerns about.
<http://www.cqf.apple.com/>
If anyone has a better place to send these comments to, please let me know.