[Turbogolfnet]

Well, as I am still waiting for mine to show up, my boyfriend went out to the apple store and bought himself one . I am so very impressed with this thing!. Anyway... I have a lot of programs installed, and instead of adding most of them to the dock, or having to browse the application folder, is there a better way to organize and launch them? I am not sure if I can just rearrange all the programs in the app folder into sub folders. Even then I would have to still launch finder, then click apps. Maybe there is something that can be added to the dock that would let you browse the apps directory in a list fation like the start menu . Any ideas?

[OptimusG4]

Drag the applications folder to the dock next to the trashcan.

[Randman]

It's a shareware program but F10 lets you access applications via the menu bar.

[TETENAL]

Add the applicatoin folder to the Dock. Click and hold it -> "Start menu"

[monkeybrain]

Butler will let you stick a Start menu type thing up in the top right of your menubar, and it will also do numerous other things - check it out.

[Chuckit]

Or for something completely different, try Quicksilver.

[Turbogolfnet]

Can I just rearrange the applications in the apps folder? For example, since I have safari in the dock can I move the safari app to a sub-folder called "in dock". That way there would be less clutter in the apps folder?

[philm]

Originally posted by Turbogolfnet:
Can I just rearrange the applications in the apps folder? For example, since I have safari in the dock can I move the safari app to a sub-folder called "in dock". That way there would be less clutter in the apps folder?

Better than this would be a folder in Applications (actually it could live anywhere) called 'In Dock'. Into here, 'option-command drag' your most popular applications. This will create an alias (a.k.a. 'shortcut') of the application in the 'In Dock' folder. Then, drag this folder next to the trashcan in the dock. You then have a folder which pops up with your favourite apps.

You might not want to alter the location of your applications as some installers assume that they are sitting in the top level of the Applications folder. However, doing what I have described with aliases does not have this potential problem.

Personally, I use and Launchbar and almost never venture into my folders and files the 'conventional' way. Good luck.

[dgs212]

here's a suggestion:

Make a new folder in your apps folder. Create Aliases for all the applications that aren't in the dock and put them in this subfolder. Then drag the subfolder to the dock next to the trashcan. Voila.

[Chuckit]

Originally posted by philm:
You might not want to alter the location of your applications as some installers assume that they are sitting in the top level of the Applications folder.

This is pretty rare nowadays, though, from what I understand.

[TETENAL]

Originally posted by Chuckit:
This is pretty rare nowadays, though, from what I understand.

Happens every time. There was just recently a thread about it with 10.3.8.

[Chuckit]

Originally posted by TETENAL:
Happens every time. There was just recently a thread about it with 10.3.8.

Really? I've tried moving stuff around and it worked fine (though not 10.3.8). And I've heard the same thing from lots of others. C'est la vie, I guess.

[cpac]

Originally posted by Chuckit:
Really? I've tried moving stuff around and it worked fine (though not 10.3.8). And I've heard the same thing from lots of others. C'est la vie, I guess.

It's just Apple's apps that can't be moved. (i.e. Mail, Address Book, Safari, etc.).

There's no reason to move them though - if you need further organization just use aliases.

[nbn22385]

Originally posted by Chuckit:
Or for something completely different, try Quicksilver.

I second that. You'll be opening apps in about a second

[X-Ti]

versiontracker.com and do a search for Snard. It's a great little utility. Sits in the menu bar or in the dock and allows you to add any app, file or even a single click that will launch many apps.
I've been using it since it was a beta/free but now it costs a bit.

[leperkuhn]

Originally posted by nbn22385:
I second that. You'll be opening apps in about a second

Quicksilver is by far the best app i've ever gotten. Now is a good time to mention this -

I noticed the shortcut for spotlight is apple-spacebar, the same shortcut that quicksilver used to use. essentially, you'll be able to launch apps the same way you do with quicksilver. I don't really use the advanced features much, except to occasionally open an address book entry, and i think spotlight can do that too.

Just an observation.

[ginoledesma]

I agree with the suggestion of Quicksilver. Definitely one of the essential apps for me in Mac OS X. With QuickSilver, regardless of where the application is, all I need to do is type in the first few letters to run it. I've completely hidden my dock now to get more screen estate on my iBook.

[Randman]

F10 beats QS, imo.

[jzdziarski]

Since nobody's satisfactorily answered this yet...

1. Make the dock smaller to fit a ton of apps
2. Use some shareware to set up multiple docks that you can toggle between
3. If you frequently drag-and-drop to some applications, you may consider dragging them to the finder window toolbar instead, so they'll show up whenever you're browsing your filesystem, freeing space up on the dock
4. There are some quickmenu tools out there that will allow you to have a customizable "applications" menu of some sort. check out LaunchBar, for example.
5. You can set up hotkeys to your favorite apps
6. You can always create aliases on the desktop
7. You can always drag your whole app folder to the dock
8. There are tools that will remove 'running' apps from necessarily showing up on the dock, freeing up some space
9. Remove some dock icons you don't use, like the Mac OSX icon
10. Use something like WindowShade X so that you can minize in place, or other ways - keeping the dock from getting filled up with minimized screens.

Hope that helps!