Personalized Efficiency: The OS X Dock by Kelly Lynn The Dock in OS X is a gem of programming and design that serves several functions. It acts as a sort of home base for launching and controlling applications as well as storing and accessing folders and files. The Dock is also fully customizable to a particular user’s needs. This article will examine the functions of the OS X Dock and go over the various ways users can tailor it to match their vision of a perfect computing experience. When scrolling the pointer over anything on the Dock, a little word bubble will appear showing the name of that item. One of the simplest and most apparent functions of the dock is to open applications, which can be done with a single click of whatever icon the pointer hovers over. By right clicking an icon in the Dock, the computer will instead bring up a menu in which information and options for that application can be found. Also of note, users can hold down command while clicking an item in the Dock to go to the original item in Finder. Certain applications, such as iCal, Finder, and Safari, rest in the Dock by default, deemed particularly favorable or important by Apple. When one of these applications is opened, a white dot will glow beneath its icon on the Dock, indicating that it is running. For any application that does not already reside on the Dock, its icon will pop up there with the same white dot when it is opened and disappear again when the application is quit. Users can easily change which applications always lay on the Dock. To remove an application from permanent residence, a user merely has to drag the icon off the Dock and release it, causing it to disappear with a graphic puff of smoke and a short sound bit. Conversely, to add something to the Dock, users can just drag it from the Finder over the Dock. The other icons on the Dock will shift apart, like the parting of the seas, gracefully making a place for the new addition. When users add things to the Dock, it does not actually move the original item, but rather creates a shortcut to it in the Finder. This helps prevent real files and applications from getting moved around and lost. Applications are not the only things to be found and used through the Dock. On the right side of the Dock there is a small divider, to the right of which lies the trash bin and folder stacks. Recent versions of OS X come with the Applications, Documents and Downloads folders already on the Dock, however just like with application icons, any folder can be added or removed. Folders on the Dock utilize Stacks, a system made by Apple to simplify navigation. When users click a folder, the contents of the folder pop out from the folder’s icon in a fan or grid style “stack,” which can be navigated through until the desired item is found. Right clicking the folder in the Dock shows the options for viewing style of the stack and several other specifications. There are also many basic customizable preferences for the Dock, such as where it sits on the desktop, whether it stays hidden or poking out constantly, and automatic magnification of whichever icon the pointer hovers over (in the case that the dock is cluttered). These preferences can be changed by clicking the Apple in the top left corner of the screen and then going to Dock. The Dock is just another powerful method of efficiency created by Apple to streamline computing. By understanding the way the Dock works and how to customize it, users can create a computer wonderfully personalized and ready to meet their exact needs.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 19:50:31 +0000
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