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Jeff75 · Jan 25, 2003, 03:42 PM

I keep my dock on the left side of the desktop, hidden. It's great! It's like having the Classic launcher but better. The dock only shows when the mouse is over it.

Also, it makes the whole desktop conform more to the original Apple human interface guidelines - the most important things are at the top left of screen, like reading Roman text. When I put the mouse in the top left, the dock jumps out. Perfect.

I don't understand why Apple didn't make the default location of the dock left. Bottom is so much more Windoze-like. Sure, you can customize it... but many consumers don't.

If you keep the dock at the bottom, why?

If you don't hide your dock, why?

Peter · Jan 25, 2003, 03:46 PM

I have my dock along the bottom, because -
you have more space for apps
its not in the way of buttons or scrollbars

I dont have my dock hidden, because -
I find it annoying and cant see the point when you can have the icons small and then become larger when your mouse is over them.

BUT I do have A-Dock on the left, hidden and when it shows it almost becomes very large and shows all the apps in use. Which I like.

Jeff75 · Jan 25, 2003, 03:54 PM

Very interesting. I found the dock on the bottom always was in the way of my application windows, especially when I wanted to resize a window by dragging the bottom corner.

So I hid the dock. Then later I moved it to the left. That got it out of the way altogether.

As for magnifying the icons, I finally just had to turn that off. The magnification causes the icons to move from their original position. I would always miss the icon I was aiming for. Now, with the magnification off I find the icon instantly. Magnification is very cool, but didn't work for me.

Funny how people can have such different preferences. Must make application development a nightmare...

MacMatt · Jan 25, 2003, 03:54 PM

I agree with you, Jeff.

I have the hidden dock on the left, and DragThing's docks hidden on the bottom...makes sense to me.

Matt

Peter · Jan 25, 2003, 04:03 PM

well I had problems with the dragging of windows for a week, after that it remembered the window position and I have never had a problem since. I used to have my dock on the right but found it annoying because the apps kept becoming larger with maginification and got in the way of the scroll bar

Millennium · Jan 25, 2003, 04:21 PM

My Dock is on the left, pinned to the bottom. I don't hide it, though, because I find auto-hide to be annnoying. I also have the Finder set to display icon names and information to the right of an icon, rather than below it (it seems to be able to fit more on the screen this way).

However, the fact that many Apple apps don't respect the Dock when it's on the left is annoying in the extreme.

MartiNZ · Jan 25, 2003, 05:03 PM

Yes, I tried running with the dock on the left, but then having things open up underneath it is problematic - so I keep it at the bottom, and it goes all the way along my iBook screen... and doesn't cause problems with anything

.

Buck_W · Jan 25, 2003, 05:03 PM

My Dock is on the left... hidden... and I am running Clear Dock by Haxies

Peter · Jan 25, 2003, 05:06 PM

there is a way to get your Dock along the top of the screen ...

snerdini · Jan 25, 2003, 05:15 PM

Dock on the left and hidden on all my machines

CheesePuff · Jan 25, 2003, 05:48 PM

I am on a PowerBook G4, which already has limited screen space because its a laptop (but much higher than an iBook thankfully). But because of its widescreen resolution, I have more room side to side than up and down, so I leave the dock on the left.

Zadian · Jan 25, 2003, 05:49 PM

I have the dock on the right, pinned to the top and always "on".

Why right?
Because that's the place on the (real) desktop i place my important stuff. I'm right handed, so it seems logical to put stuff in the reach of the hand - on the right side.
On the right side of the screen the dock doesn't get covert by menus.

I don't let volumes mount on the desktop, this way the dock doesn't cover the icons of the volumes. (btw - if all important stuff should be in the left upper corner, why doesn't the volumes mount there?)

I guess that's the typical NeXT set up.

(The finder should get a shelf ;-) )

Worst. Episode. Ever. · Jan 25, 2003, 05:52 PM

Originally posted by PeterClark2002:
there is a way to get your Dock along the top of the screen ...

Yes, you can do that with TinkerTool.

I keep my dock on the left and use ASM to set my auto-hide preference on an application by application basis.

Peter · Jan 25, 2003, 06:28 PM

Originally posted by CheesePuff:
I am on a PowerBook G4, which already has limited screen space because its a laptop (but much higher than an iBook thankfully). But because of its widescreen resolution, I have more room side to side than up and down, so I leave the dock on the left.

thats why I have it along the bottom, more screen space although my dock is tiny with little seperators between certain apps (its very orgainised

)

cpac · Jan 25, 2003, 07:14 PM

Originally posted by Jeff75:
If you keep the dock at the bottom, why?

If you don't hide your dock, why?

I actually started out with it on the right, but have switched back to the bottom. Several thoughts about the position:

Left doesn't put the trash in the lower right where I expect to find it.

Both Right and Left are generally places where applications put various button strips/palates/etc. Keeping the dock on the bottom avoids annoying overlaps

Bottom is always larger (and on wide-screens, substantially so) so more icons can be displayed bigger, etc.

--------------

I *do* happen to hide my dock, but there are many reasons not to:

1: have updating dock icons always visible (i.e. Mail, OmniWeb, etc.)

2: avoid any overlap problems caused by expanding windows into areas the dock will cover once unhidden

3: avoid having to "hover" to wait for the dock to un-hide to access dock items

4: easier to keep track of what's running, what's minimized, etc. if you see it the whole time...

Gene Jockey · Jan 25, 2003, 07:41 PM

Mine goes on the left. When I was writing my thesis, I was running FrameMaker off of the school's Sun network. So I had GNOME/XDarwin up and running, and with the GNOME bar at the bottom of the screen, the Dock move to the left. And there it stayed.

--Josh

Gul Banana · Jan 25, 2003, 09:43 PM

Mine's on the bottom, quite large, hidden, and includes my 7 most frequently used applications plus four strategic folders for right-click filesystem navigation. Incidentally, magnification is on enough to look cool but not enough to make me miss icons I aim for, and I use ClearDock to make it completely transparent. Rationale?

?_I command-tab/command-shift-tab between applications a lot, and I prefer to see it going left to right or right to left when I do so
?_Most of the applications in the dock I open at startup; less frequently used things I access through those folders or other means. Thus there is a reasonable amount of room left over for otherprograms
? I may have a 17 inch screen, but that's not so large that I want to waste the bottom 10% of it when I'm not actually using the Dock
? It's large because I don't want to have a huge number of things in it..
? and because then all the pretty shiny icons look cool
? One final reason why I have it on the bottom: seeing icons bouncing left to right makes me feel rage at the world and a hatred for all things iconic.

dadder · Jan 25, 2003, 09:56 PM

Bottom Cons:
In the way of some apps tools.
Window resizing is difficult.
When I started using my TiBook, the screen is not as 'high' as my former CRT so I couldnt' lose any more vertical space.
I currently position the dock on the left, and until I read this thread, didn't know you could have it hidden. Well, I did and I didn't. I just never tried it. So I'm trying it out tonight, and so far I'm liking it. Cool!
I don't mind the trash on the left, but most often I'm dragging the files that I want trashed all the way across my screen. That's a pain. I've tried right clicking with my Kensington Trackball which brings up the pop-up menu for the icon and I can 'move items to trash' that way, which helps.
I wish I could just highlight an item and say, 'Trash!' and it would dump it in the trash.

cpac · Jan 26, 2003, 11:23 AM

Originally posted by dadder:
I wish I could just highlight an item and say, 'Trash!' and it would dump it in the trash.

Turn on speech recognition and this is (slightly modified) a possibility. I think you have to say "move to trash" or something for it to work...

dws · Jan 26, 2003, 12:53 PM

I'm one of the few who prefers his dock to reside at the top - hidden.

I don't like having to move my mouse from the top of the screen all the way to the bottom to go from menus to the dock.

Left or right just doesn't allow enough space for all the stuff I've got crammed in my dock!

Many don't like the top option because you have to be especially careful with mouse positioning to get the dock to open. In my experience, after a day of getting used to it, it becomes second nature and you fall in love with the setup.

My suggestion would be to try the dock at the top; but make sure that you continue the experiment for at least a day. Most people give the dock at the top a thirty-second tryout and quickly decide that it's horrible. However, such a limited experience won't teach you the necessary mouse-edge coordination.

My two cents...

euphras · Jan 26, 2003, 01:05 PM

Quote: Originally posted by zadian
"...don't let volumes mount on the desktop, this way the dock doesn't cover the icons of the volumes. (btw - if all important stuff should be in the left upper corner, why doesn't the volumes mount there?)
I guess that's the typical NeXT set up. "

If i recall it right, the volume(s), trashcan and so on always appeared on the right side since the days of the "Lisa" and "Mac". It�s not a NeXT thingy.

Pat

speedraycer · Jan 26, 2003, 01:43 PM

Since the widescreen G4 is the idea of having a widesceen monitor, My dock is on the bottom always on about 1/2 in high and no magnification. I would tack it to the left but keep it at the bottom but I don't wanna f anything up. It's bad enough I don't have my menu extras anymore. Still looking for systemUIserver.app....

BZ · Jan 26, 2003, 02:11 PM

To the left and pinned to the top. New apps open on the bottom.

I find it easier to find things (apps) that are always in the same place and that is why having it pinned with no magnification works. Your motor skills get used to going to the same place for the same thing.

I also keep my TiG4 and my Sawtooh with the same things in the dock at the same place.

BZ

pdot · Jan 26, 2003, 02:44 PM

I don't know if you guys know, but things that are horizontal are easier to scan with your eyes b/c of the way they are placed. But once you get used to one method, it's going to be faster for you than the other.

Spirit_VW · Jan 26, 2003, 03:28 PM

Originally posted by Jeff75:
Very interesting. I found the dock on the bottom always was in the way of my application windows, especially when I wanted to resize a window by dragging the bottom corner.

I found this true back in the old days when most apps weren't Dock-aware. Now, virtually all of the ones I use are, so it's kind of a non-issue for me.

As for magnifying the icons, I finally just had to turn that off. The magnification causes the icons to move from their original position.

That's not actually correct. If you put your mouse over an icon with magnification turned on, it's in the exact same place it would be with it turned off. The other icons might move, but they're in their original place with your mouse over them. Never has given me a problem with finding icons. I see what you mean, but I think the phraseology is not quite accurate.

Personally, I keep my Dock on the bottom and unhidden. On the bottom because, well, it just seems to fit better. Having the Dock anywhere else never had sat right with me. Unhidden because it doesn't bother me at all when it's around.

Peter · Jan 26, 2003, 03:31 PM

I am with Spirit_VW

Cadaver · Jan 26, 2003, 06:12 PM

Ditto.

I like it at the bottom, despite the small amount of screen space it uses (15.2" TiBook and a 22" Cinema Display).

The dock icons are on the fairly small size to minimize the amount of space it uses, but big enough to see any important data (like the # of emails in Mail.app or the date in iCal's dock icon). I leave it visible at all times (like to see minimized windows, loaded apps and indicators like the Mail.app icon). Just enough magnification to have a little "wow" effect, but really only minimal.

On the left feels too alien to me, like an awkward Windows copy. On the right is OK I suppose, but I like to have my disks mount on the desktop, and they always get in the way.

Having my eyes scan horizontally, left to right, feels much more natural.

Nathan Adams · Jan 26, 2003, 11:05 PM

Mine's set at the bottom too. I generally have things I'm working on, maxed out window wise - and I much prefer to scroll up and down, than horizontally. This is especcially the case with pallete heavy programs (photoshop, and freehand for me).

I only very occasionally hide the dock. Really only when I'm using Flash, or desperately need that tiny bit extra roon in PS or FH.
Other than that, my dock doesn't take up much room. I don't have hundreds of things in it, and the icons are set at 32x32 - so they're still easily recognisable and I can see things like mail's unread message tags and so forth.

Simon · Jan 27, 2003, 02:59 AM

My dock is on the right, pinned to the bottom, always visible and size is set so that icons aren't much larger than 32x32 (this is on a 1280x1024 Apple TFT).

Why?
- Most documents I work with are about the size of letter or A4. Therefore my screen is more than wide enough, but not high enough - especially when I'm working with many page long documents. The reason it's on the right and not left is because as a long-time Mac user I'm used to having icons on the right side of the desktop. Since my dock serves similar purposes it feals "native" to have it there.
- It's pinned to the bottom because downloaded files are put default into the upper right corner. I don't have much on my desktop, but I want to be able to see the two or three files that sometimes sit there without the dock sitting on top.
- It's always visible because I rely on the dock's visual feedback like CPU Monitor, new e-mail count, etc... And also because I hate the delay you have before the docks becomes visible when you move the mouse onto the screen border - although I realize it's necessary because otherwise the dock would pop open every time your mouse gets near the screen border.
- The size is rather small (it takes up about 2/3 of the screen hight) so that the icons sitting in the upper right desktop corner stay visible and of course so that the dock doesn't take to much screen space.

Of course the dock settings are a rather personal thing and depend on what you do on your Mac and how you do it.

Jeff75 · Jan 27, 2003, 03:58 AM

dws - how do you place your dock at the top? That's not a choice in preferences.

Jasoco · Jan 27, 2003, 04:23 AM

Mine is in the bottom right corner.

Why?

Because I hate playing "Chase the Trash Can" when trying to delete files like I used to when I had it centered or left aligned.

I also have a couple other DragThing Docks elsewhere. All I keep in my real Dock is Finder, DragThing (Since it's always open) and Trash. AquaMon has its icon hidden so that's not shown anymore. If I could remove DragThings icon I'd be happy but I need to be able to get to the app for menus. Oh well.

Sven G · Jan 27, 2003, 04:27 AM

Originally posted by Jeff75:
dws - how do you place your dock at the top? That's not a choice in preferences.

TinkerTool is your friend...

dws · Jan 27, 2003, 01:02 PM

Originally posted by Jeff75:
dws - how do you place your dock at the top? That's not a choice in preferences.

If you don't like reading German, you can pick up TinkerTook at:

http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/5721

dav · Jan 27, 2003, 02:48 PM

i keep my dock pinned to the left, probably because i kept my dragthing dock there from os9 (where it balanced out for me from the hd, disks, trash can, etc. on the right). comfortable for me there.

i have the dock hide automatically in certain apps, i.e., hidden in photoshop, coreldraw, etc.; visible in finder, itunes, iphoto, utitilies, etc. last thing i want is a dock taking up realestate in photoshop.

Anomalous · Jan 27, 2003, 04:20 PM

Mine is at the bottom, where I feel it interferes least with other windows. Autohide and magnification are cool-looking but get in the way of actually using the Dock, so I leave them off.

dadder · Jan 27, 2003, 06:51 PM

Originally posted by Sven G:
TinkerTool is your friend...

Wow - cool. I 'was' a little freaked out by the German, but I downloaded it anyway and it's nice. I'm trying the 'top/left' position since it's had a few raves. I like how the trash stays put... stay, Trash, stay! Good receptacle, good boy.

ARENA · Jan 27, 2003, 07:00 PM

I've tried to use the Dock on the left a few times, but it gets in the way of Photoshop there, so i always go back to the bottom, left pinned position. I believe it's less obtrusive that way.

voodoo · Jan 27, 2003, 07:36 PM

I just realized something. If the Dock was optional and instead you'd get an application menu (somewhat like OS 9) I'd stop using the Dock. Like immediately.

I always use the Dock now, though. I have customized it to my liking. Didn't take long. It is unhidden at the bottom, magnification off and only contains the most important apps. I hate the hide feature. I don't like it when the Dock hops out helpfully when I don't want it, but accidentally put the cursor close enough to the edge of the screen. Bah.

As I said, if the Dock were optional, I'd kick it.

I have never liked any launcher application really (didn't OS 9 have something called "the Laucher"?, somewhat related to the Dock), I don't like a-dock and what have you. I like simple and effectife interface. The Dock does that, but my main gripe with it is the screen realestate it eats. Too much for my iBook. Now on a 23" HD Cinema Display the Dock is at home.

trusted_content · Jan 27, 2003, 08:22 PM

My dock is currently centered at the bottom (how boring!) but that's cuz a recent crash ate the dock prefs and reset it (wots IE doing in my dock -grrrrrrr).

I used to have it at the top. Combined with a black menu bar (theme) and a black dock, I had this nice continuous little illamatic action pod at the top of my screen, but windows' title bars kept getting in the way.

Nonsuch · Jan 27, 2003, 11:45 PM

I too am a Left-Hider. It just feels so comfortable, what with your widgets and important app menus up in the left corner.

gadster · Jan 28, 2003, 04:23 AM

Originally posted by dadder:
I wish I could just highlight an item and say, 'Trash!' and it would dump it in the trash.

Command-delete will do that nicely for you.

As for the dock, I have tried all sorts of combinations and ended up back at square one. Bottom dock, unhidden with just a bit of magnification.

I tend to put commonly used apps there, but also newly downloaded things (as a reminder to try them out).

I used to use pop-up folders extensively in OS 9 so I am much more comfortable heading to the bottom of the desktop to find things. I just wish the dock was a bit snappier, and there was an option to hide it until you clicked right on the edge of the desktop.

In many ways OS X feels like OS 7 did, built in lag. Any one remember the little extension than killed Finder zooming rectangles? Or having to turn off menu blinking.

Gul Banana · Jan 28, 2003, 05:04 AM

If that's so, though, there's hope - would you consider that System 7 would run badly or slowly on even somewhat old (for now) hardware? Technology catches up with software, it seems.