[Weyland-Yutani]

The Dock. It has been with us since 10.0 and amazingly it has been unchanged since 10.0 minor background changes not included..

Perhaps there isn't much to do about the Dock.. still, this thread is created for Dock requests, gripes and bugs and things you'd like to see fixed/changed/added in a future version of the Dock.

What I would like to see:

� The option to require a double-click on an icon in the Dock to open it. I find it all to common that my finger slips a bit on the trackpad and *wham* I'm opening Photoshop now!! [insert hard-drive crunching and me trying to forcequit PS]

� The option to make it go away completely - essentially turn it off. This can be achieved with a hack but I don't want to get rid of the Dock. Simply there are times when I do not want to see it and do not want it to pop up. There are times when I simply do not need it at all.

� Being able to close minimized windows in the Dock without having to maximize them and then close them. Just a contextual menu [i.e. right-click] on a minimized window and choose "close". Would be really nice.

� I'd like to see more graphical feedback options in the Dock. For instance the neat hack where hidden apps become transparent in the Dock. I think that would be a nice [official] option! The minimized windows of an hidden app disappear from the Dock but the app icon shows no feedback that the app is hidden.

� The trash should not be hardwired to the Dock. I don't see why this should be. Completely empty the Dock and all you have left is the Finder and the trash. The Finder can be approached without the Dock (alt-Tab for instance) but the trash can *only* be approached through the Dock. I don't agree with that - is that then really what the Dock is for?

Please feel free to add comments about the Dock or discuss my (eccentric) opionions

What would you like to see in a future Dock?

[TETENAL]

Originally Posted by Weyland-Yutani

The Dock. It has been with us since 10.0 and amazingly it has been unchanged since 10.0 minor background changes not included..

I wouldn't call Expos� and Dashboard "minor background changes".

� Being able to close minimized windows in the Dock without having to maximize them and then close them. Just a contextual menu [i.e. right-click] on a minimized window and choose "close". Would be really nice.

This is possible already, but requires application support. The Finder supports this for example.

[Severed Hand of Skywalker]

I want popup folders!!!!

Even better I think that the iTunes dock icon should have little play/pause/skip buttons on it so you can click them to ajust iTunes and not have to click, hold and scroll.

[Mithras]

Originally Posted by TETENAL

I wouldn't call Expos� and Dashboard "minor background changes".

Good point. Though I guess, those were changes to Dock.app, but not to `the Dock' as UI element.
I totally agree with SWG that popup folders would be nice.

I actually like the Trash in the Dock, though I wish more apps used the Trash as a UI element -- e.g., dragging toolbar items to the Trash -- and would like the Dock to take on some more shelf-like behaviors, e.g. dropping text fragments onto it.

[leperkuhn]

Pin to a corner rather than centered as an option

[Weyland-Yutani]

I can't see how Expos� and Dashboard have anything to do with the Dock.. I'm talking about the application launcher found by default at the bottom of the screen.

Please don't go confusing a really simple discussion TETANAL

@Mithras

The trash is fine where it is IMO and I tried to underline that as well as I could. It is however only available from the Dock and I don't see why the Dock should have exlusive rights to the trash. It is just an invisible folder on the HD after all.. one idea would be to have the trash in the sidabar of the metal Finder windows where the drives and other folders are.

@Skywalker

Yep, more UI elements could be introduced to the Dock icons.. clickable ones for instance. Apps like Adium have a lot of graphical feedback in the app icon and that is pretty neat.

@ everyone

one flaw with the Dock I can think of is that it can become very very small. Some people actually prefer it that way. That would make enhanced UI elements in Dock icons a problem. Nothing critical, since if one are using the Dock in a very small mode one isn't really using it to see visual clues.

I think the world is ready for a Dock 2.0!

[orwell]

what about incorporating ideas that have been tried and proven by third-parties? DragThing and Object Dock+ both have tabbed docks, which I find invaluable on both my computers. Surely this would not be too difficult for Apple to code for??

[Weyland-Yutani]

Originally Posted by orwell

what about incorporating ideas that have been tried and proven by third-parties? DragThing and Object Dock+ both have tabbed docks, which I find invaluable on both my computers. Surely this would not be too difficult for Apple to code for??

Yeah, Apple hasn't been shy about getting inspirations from 3rd party apps before. There's lots of good ideas out there to borrow! The Dock is very central to the OS X experience, so I am surprised that Apple hasn't made an effort to focus on features in the Dock.

[fulmer]

Originally Posted by leperkuhn

Pin to a corner rather than centered as an option

It is an option. You can pin it left or right.

[MrForgetable]

� The option to require a double-click on an icon in the Dock to open it. I find it all to common that my finger slips a bit on the trackpad and *wham* I'm opening Photoshop now!! [insert hard-drive crunching and me trying to forcequit PS]
i agree. which is why i've decided to leave photoshop and other processor intensive applications off the dock and just use quicksilver.

� The option to make it go away completely - essentially turn it off. This can be achieved with a hack but I don't want to get rid of the Dock. Simply there are times when I do not want to see it and do not want it to pop up. There are times when I simply do not need it at all.
it would be nice to have an option to do everything, yes. i probably don't need this though.

� Being able to close minimized windows in the Dock without having to maximize them then close them. Just a contextual menu [i.e. right-click] on a minimized window and choose "close". Would be really nice.
yeah, when i switched from windows, i could right click on an app on the ?start bar? and close it from there, so when I came here, it was kind of sad.

� I'd like to see more graphical feedback options in the Dock. For instance the neat hack where hidden apps become transparent in the Dock. I think that would be a nice [official] option! The minimized windows of an hidden app disappear from the Dock but the app icon shows no feedback that the app is hidden.
of course, again, more options are nice but i don't need them, especially graphical ones

� The trash should not be hardwired to the Dock. I don't see why this should be. Completely empty the Dock and all you have left is the Finder and the trash. The Finder can be approached without the Dock (alt-Tab for instance) but the trash can *only* be approached through the Dock. I don't agree with that - is that then really what the Dock is for?
another one i don't really mind. sometimes i notice it, and sometimes i don't.

[MrForgetable]

Originally Posted by TETENAL

This is possible already, but requires application support. The Finder supports this for example.

unfortunately, not many (if any at all) applications support it, even those made by Apple.

[Ricky]

Originally Posted by fulmer

It is an option. You can pin it left or right.

I don't think he's talking about the same option as you are. Imagine having the Dock placed on the bottom of the screen and then pinned all the way to the left or right. This is more than just placement of the Dock on the left, right, or bottom.

[jeff25624]

A double click feature would be nice, as I too end up opening an unwanted app because my finger slipped. Other than that, I'm very satisfied with the dock.

[Tesseract]

Originally Posted by Ricky

I don't think he's talking about the same option as you are. Imagine having the Dock placed on the bottom of the screen and then pinned all the way to the left or right. This is more than just placement of the Dock on the left, right, or bottom.

There is a hidden preference to pin the dock to the left or right (top or bottom if it's on the side of the screen).

You can edit the preference in Terminal (check macosxhints for specifics) ot using TinkerTool.

I agree that Apple should provide a GUI for more of the hidden options.

[Ji Eun]

of course you can empty the trash with keyboard shortcuts and through the finder. what are you talking about trash being dock-only.

anyway, more shelf-like behavior would be nice, but (especially for those of us on 12" screen) after a point the more items tossed in the dock the smaller and smaller the dock becomes --> serious usability issues.

[jay3ld]

Originally Posted by Tesseract

There is a hidden preference to pin the dock to the left or right (top or bottom if it's on the side of the screen).

Or.

~/User/YOU/Library/Prefences

Look for com.apple.dock.plist.

Open it with Property List Editor (From Developer Install)

On the list look for pinning
Change it to either
Start , Middle , end
(Left , Middle , Right) is what it means.

Save and either quit dock or log out

I forgot the command to kill the dock i had an apple script of it once but cant find it.


To say on topic i think the dock should be able to have Quick Launch. Kinda like Tiger launch but in the dock. Being able to remove The trash and stick it on my desktop instead would be nice. even though i know the alias trick

A free floating dock would be nice sometimes when a file gets stuck down in that corner and i cant get it out. . I Think apple needs to focus on that! i hate it. i have to move all my files to the right side of the screen just so they dont get lost under the dock

Dock is a nice little app that Should really be fixed up to work as anything we want in it.

[Dog Like Nature]

Originally Posted by jay3ld

Or.
I forgot the command to kill the dock i had an apple script of it once but cant find it.

In Terminal: [FONT=Courier New]killall Dock[/FONT]

[Peabo]

remember in 10.2 beta where you could minimize windows 'in place', drag minimized windows out of the dock and throw them around the screen and they would stick to the side?

[Alex Gunter]

Absolutely, zOne81, that was pretty cool. I was just thinking about it; it was what allowed me to come up with and put together mockups for an idea I called The Bay. Like a Dock/Expose for power users. Links here:

http://alex.gunter.net/thebay_lightload.jpg

http://alex.gunter.net/thebay_heavyload.jpg

[andretan]

I'd like an option to "lock" the icons -- to prevent the icons from being dragged out accidentally (especially by other users if I'm sharing my computer).

[Weyland-Yutani]

Originally Posted by Ji Eun

of course you can empty the trash with keyboard shortcuts and through the finder. what are you talking about trash being dock-only.

The trash is dock only.

Emptying it .. is irrelevant.

The only way to see the trash is in the Dock. If you like your Dock small, you aren't going to see much of the trash.

The only way to open the trash is through the Dock. There are simple hacks for sure to achieve Finder access, the trash is just a folder after all but officially access is only through the Dock.

The trash cannot be moved from the Dock. In fact asides from one "empty trash" command that can be found in the Finder the trash is 100% bound to the ... Dock and nothing else.

That's what I'm talking about when I say the trash is Dock-only. What the heck were YOU talking about???

[mikelauder]

For all the hidden features of the dock try this out

http://www.freerangemac.com/TransparentDock2.html

[Noonster]

^^ Have used that and its great - just a shame its not Tiger combatible yet

[mikelauder]

Bummer. Oh well.

[leperkuhn]

Originally Posted by Alex Gunter

Absolutely, zOne81, that was pretty cool. I was just thinking about it; it was what allowed me to come up with and put together mockups for an idea I called The Bay. Like a Dock/Expose for power users. Links here:

http://alex.gunter.net/thebay_lightload.jpg

http://alex.gunter.net/thebay_heavyload.jpg

WOW - this is really slick. Nice mockups!

[Weyland-Yutani]

Very nice mock-ups!

I am looking forward to TransparentDock for 10.4 too! I'm sure that app hasn't escaped Apple, I'm sure they're looking at it with the xerox machine close at hand /joke

[Xtraz]

Originally Posted by Tesseract

There is a hidden preference to pin the dock to the left or right (top or bottom if it's on the side of the screen).

You can edit the preference in Terminal (check macosxhints for specifics) ot using TinkerTool.

I agree that Apple should provide a GUI for more of the hidden options.

You can pin the Dock to the right, and that would fix the trashcan positioning, but then all the other icons are no longer in the middle (which I prefer). I would like a solution where the trash is always in the bottom right corner, but have the dock icons remain centered on screen (disassociate the trashcan from the dock, at least visually).

That way I only have to make one big gesture with the mouse to find the trash instead of aiming it with the mouse. (in OS 9, I used to meticulously put the trashcan such that the bottom right pixel is covered)

[mAxximo]

�Pop-up Folders
�Pop-up Folders
�Pop-up Folders
�Pop-up Folders
�Pop-up Folders
�Pop-up Folders
�Pop-up Folders
�Pop-up Folders
�Pop-up Folders
�Pop-up Folders
�Pop-up Folders
�Pop-up Folders
�Pop-up Folders

[mAxximo]

Oh, and the ability to display folders that are labeled...

(This in itself speaks volumes about how retarded the current Labels implementation is...)

[Krypton]

Some of you might be interested in this:

10 years of dragthing

The reason there wasn't much DragThing development between 1998 and 2000 is because I was then part of the team working in secret on the Finder and Mac OS X Dock at Apple. I felt then that the Dock would ultimately replace DragThing. However, for a variety of reasons, I left Apple shortly after Aqua and the Dock were announced in January 2000, and very little of my code survives in the current Dock. I moved back to Scotland, and work started on DragThing 4 soon after.

Update: I'm reliably informed that none of my original code survives in the current Dock. Thanks John for rubbing that in :-)

[Weyland-Yutani]

Damn man! Apple should have kept him developing the Dock!! :cryin' shame:



There are so many cool and dare I say important features that could so easily be incorporated into the Dock..

[leperkuhn]

how about text labels in the dock?

[Chuckit]

It's pretty clear that Apple wants the Dock to stay stupid-simple. If Apple has neglected to put features from DragThing into the Dock, I don't think it's because they're unable or haven't given it any attention (considering practically every new feature seems to be rolled into the Dock).

[iREZ]

i would love the double click feature you mentioned along with getting rid of the dock all together for periods at a time. i don't mind the dock when i'm at home with my 20" lcd...but when i'm on the road with my 12" pb it does tend to get on my nerves.

[Severed Hand of Skywalker]

Originally Posted by mAxximo

�Pop-up Folders
�Pop-up Folders
�Pop-up Folders
�Pop-up Folders
�Pop-up Folders
�Pop-up Folders
�Pop-up Folders
�Pop-up Folders
�Pop-up Folders
�Pop-up Folders
�Pop-up Folders
�Pop-up Folders
�Pop-up Folders

�Pop-up Folders

[malvolio]

Originally Posted by Weyland-Yutani

The trash is dock only.

The only way to see the trash is in the Dock. If you like your Dock small, you aren't going to see much of the trash.

The only way to open the trash is through the Dock. There are simple hacks for sure to achieve Finder access, the trash is just a folder after all but officially access is only through the Dock.

The trash cannot be moved from the Dock. In fact asides from one "empty trash" command that can be found in the Finder the trash is 100% bound to the ... Dock and nothing else.

But why in the world do you need to see the trash? Beyond whether there is something in it or not, which is pretty obvious from the icon (even when it's tiny).
I grant you it's annoying to have to go to the Dock to open the trash, but that is something I rarely do.
Mostly I ignore the trash. Command-Delete and Command-Shift-Delete are two of my favorite keyboard shortcuts. I even added a custom one for the Secure Delete option.

[Big Mac]

*The option to make hidden applications transparent should be GUI accessible. I am going to have to look that one up again.

*There should be some customizability of item grouping. But it's useless to talk about this because Apple seems categorically opposed to any real improvements. It's difficult to believe that OS X has gone through four major revisions with essentially a static Dock.

[Weyland-Yutani]

Originally Posted by Chuckit

It's pretty clear that Apple wants the Dock to stay stupid-simple. If Apple has neglected to put features from DragThing into the Dock, I don't think it's because they're unable or haven't given it any attention (considering practically every new feature seems to be rolled into the Dock).

We know you don't think so. Please stay out of threads like this Chuckit. We'll call you if we need anyone apologizing Apple. Your reputation as apologist numero uno precedes you.

k thx by

[Weyland-Yutani]

Originally Posted by Big Mac

*The option to make hidden applications transparent should be GUI accessible. I am going to have to look that one up again.

*There should be some customizability of item grouping. But it's useless to talk about this because Apple seems categorically opposed to any real improvements. It's difficult to believe that OS X has gone through four major revisions with essentially a static Dock.

Item grouping would be

Good idea Big Mac!!

As for Apple, they have changed the Dock a little bit. Perhaps a little less than the Finder. These are certainly aspects of the OS that seem to be in "maintainance mode" at Apple - I just can't imagine Apple has decided to never look at two of the most persistant elements in the Mac OS X experience, the Dock and the Finder.

I'd expect a major improvement of both in 10.5

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by Weyland-Yutani

We know you don't think so. Please stay out of threads like this Chuckit. We'll call you if we need anyone apologizing Apple. Your reputation as apologist numero uno precedes you.

Your rudeness is unwarranted, particularly since I wasn't defending Apple. I was saying it's good for DragThing fans that he didn't stay at Apple, because Steve would not have allowed him to put those features into the Dock even if he had stayed on that team.

[Weyland-Yutani]

Originally Posted by Chuckit

Your rudeness is unwarranted, particularly since I wasn't defending Apple. I was saying it's good for DragThing fans that he didn't stay at Apple, because Steve would not have allowed him to put those features into the Dock even if he had stayed on that team.

Well please accept my apologies

[Ji Eun]

Originally Posted by Weyland-Yutani

Emptying it [the trash] .. is irrelevant.

That's pretty much all I do with the trash, how is it irrelevant?

Originally Posted by Weyland-Yutani

The trash is dock only...... the trash is 100% bound to the Dock and nothing else.

Originally Posted by Weyland-Yutani

.... asides from one "empty trash" command that can be found in the Finder:

... actually two commands are visible in the Finder menu, and of course there are the keyboard shortcuts already mentioned (cmd+shift+del / cmd+option+shift+del).

The trash is meant to hold stuff you plan to permanently delete. On the rare occasion you need to open the trash folder, the dock seems like a fair-enough place to reach it. Despite how small your dock becomes it is still pegged to one side, you don't have to *find* the icon. The other way you can visually reach the trash folder is via Finder / menunbar / go to folder or cmd+shift+G and enter the appropriate path. You could probably create your own shortcut key action to replicate that route and show the Trash folder that way. If you need to see the trash folder as often as it sounds perhaps you should re-examine your deleting habits.

[Jasoco]

Originally Posted by Weyland-Yutani

I can't see how Expos� and Dashboard have anything to do with the Dock.. I'm talking about the application launcher found by default at the bottom of the screen.

Actually, they have everything to do with the Dock. Exposé and Dashboard are part of the Dock. Kill the Dock and you kill Exposé and Dashboard.

[Weyland-Yutani]

Originally Posted by Jasoco

Actually, they have everything to do with the Dock. Exposé and Dashboard are part of the Dock. Kill the Dock and you kill Exposé and Dashboard.

As mentioned above (early in the thread) I'm talking about the application launcher found by default at the bottom of the screen.

Nothing else, nothing connected to it in any abstract way. The Dock. Period. Not the Dock.app just the Dock part of the Dock app.

I don't mean to sound snidey but this thread just isn't about any other features of the Dock.app than the Dock.

[Weyland-Yutani]

"Change your deleting habits W-Y! Embrace the light!"

[Weyland-Yutani]

Originally Posted by Ji Eun

That's pretty much all I do with the trash, how is it irrelevant? ... actually two commands are visible in the Finder menu, and of course there are the keyboard shortcuts already mentioned (cmd+shift+del / cmd+option+shift+del).

The trash is meant to hold stuff you plan to permanently delete. On the rare occasion you need to open the trash folder, the dock seems like a fair-enough place to reach it. Despite how small your dock becomes it is still pegged to one side, you don't have to *find* the icon. The other way you can visually reach the trash folder is via Finder / menunbar / go to folder or cmd+shift+G and enter the appropriate path. You could probably create your own shortcut key action to replicate that route and show the Trash folder that way. If you need to see the trash folder as often as it sounds perhaps you should re-examine your deleting habits.

Yes two commands, you are correct. Three if you want to count the command when you hold down alt and choose "empty trash".

The background:

That is IMO irrelevant. I'm fine with those commands being in the Finder, I think most people are. That still doesn't make the Trash discoverable in the Finder nor a part of the Finder. If you could not see the Dock then the Trash would be an abstract invisible idea. You could command files and folders to dissapear to this "Trash" but they wouldn't be deleted until you chose "empty trash". That's why this is irrelevant, because visual interaction with the Trash is only found in the Dock. We can agree on that.

The Trash is indeed for stuff I'd like to permanently delete, at least plan to. I have a chance to change my mind, by opening the trash and dragging the file(s) I've decided to spare back to wherever. That means on occasion I would like to find the Trash and open it. Rare occation... perhaps? I usually throw things into the trash and empty it sometime later. When I've thrown other stuff in as well. Sometimes I check, just to be sure. Then I need to find the Trash. This is all anecdotal of course.

The issue:

It is twofold. On one hand if my suggestion of being able to hide the Dock permantely (i.e. turn it off) there would have to be another way to get to the Trash than through the Dock. Even on those rare occations that you would need/want to. On the other, while the Trash is pinned on one side of the Dock finding it with your mous isn't always that easy. The Dock is dynamic in size. The position of the Trash will always be on the right end of the Dock, but where will the right end of the Dock be exactly. Hard to predict, especially if you keep your Dock hidden most of the time. A minor inconvenience perhaps but it's not just width. The Dock changes size dynamically too. On a 12" PB/iBook monitor a crowded Dock with (not so) many open apps becomes very small. Icons shrink. The Trash shrinks too. Perhaps you'd like to keep your Dock small. It can be chosen to be very small. It will get pretty hard to drag and drop into the Trash.

There are many inconveniances of only being able to access the Trash through the Dock. Having the option of the Trash in the sidebar of Finder windows would always make the Trash accessable, clost to the file/folder you want to throw away and you can quickly glance over its contents. Certainly you could always use keyboard shortcuts to throw away things into the trash but the fact is sometimes you just have the mouse over the file/folder you want to delete and using it is just quicker than the key-combo. Using keyboard commands for commands is rather advanced. I have never seen a casual user get the hang of even the cmd-del for throwing in the Trash. It is second nature to nerds and nerds usually forget that there are just regular people out there with way different priorities. That was the target group for the Macintosh to begin with. The nerds chose Windows/DOS. I think there is a keyboard shortcut for everything in Windows. A mouse is technically un-necessary.

One final thought

Since the introduction of Mac OS X, a UNIX derivative (according to Apple) I have noticed one thing that has changed in the Mac user demograph. There has been a steady increase in nerds. See before OS X nerds wouldn't touch the Mac with a 10 foot cattle prod. They hated the OS, how it prevented you from customizing the innards, changing .ini files and such. No CLI access. Etc. So when OS X is introduced the Mac users start to get a lot of new recruits from the nerdy camp. Then again by acquireing NeXT, Apple itself got a whole bunch of nerds. There is no question about it. People who don't realize the difference between the Dock and the Dock.app, who cannot fathom that if Apple doesn't include something it could still be possible and people who would rather rely on keyboard shortcuts as their main way to interact with certain system operations rather than the graphical interface are becoming more and more common Mac users. A crying shame. Now I've been told ever so nicely I need to change my "deleting habits". I think I've heard it all.

Nerdyboys you're ok, but please remember most people can't type nearly as fast as you guys and don't have the symbiotic relationship with their keyboard as you guys seem to do.

[jcadam]

I came over to the Mac side toward the end of the OS 9 era. I still like the way OS 9 did a few things (don't get me wrong, OS X is a vastly superior OS, in most ways). Shortcuts on the desktop for frequently used files & apps. A drop-down list of running applications in the upper-right corner of the menu bar that was there when you wanted it, and out of the way when you didn't. And the FREAKING TRASH CAN GOES ON THE FREAKING DESKTOP.

But Dashboard rocks, absolutely (just got my copy of Tiger in the mail yesterday).

[theolein]

I second this totally.

I would like in the Dock:

1. Pop-Up folders. Those things were just so damn handy in OS8 and OS9. While the right-click folder aliases in the Dock are a bit of that, they don't have spring loading and they aren't real folders. Give us Pop-up folders.

2. I think it would be very practical to have the Trash available in the metal Finder side bar. While it has become second nature to just Cmd-Backspace on items I don't want, I do often enough drag things from the Finder window to the Trash in the Dock. Having the Trash in the side bar would be very handy.

3. This would simply be an idea of presentation, so I doubt it would ever get implemented, is that I would love it if the running applications could have a better indicator than a little black arrow in them. Perhaps giving running apps a little background halo would be neat.

4. what would be nnicer than having to pin the Dock somewhere, would be to be able to drag it wherever one wanted to, like a tool palette.

5. I like the idea of having some kind of bay where all running windows are drawn.

[asdasd]

Clearly Apple wants to keep the Dock simple. I imagine the Dock engineer could pony up a Dock which does what is requested here in 2 weeks at the max. That would leave us with a dock usable by power users at the risk of alienating non-power users. That includes putting too much crud in the Dock preferences.

You can already pin to the corners, for instance. Apple wrote the code. Tinkertool merely turns it on or off, graphically. Why do you want to expose this nonsense when the vast majority of people dont want it, or need it, and you have it already by fiddling with a plist.

Transparency is even more crud, that would take the engineer 2 minutes, plus the Dock preferences reworking. It may already be in there.

I agree with popup folders and the double click idea, however.

As far as DragThig goes. If you want that, and eulogise the engineer, buy it.

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by asdasd

You can already pin to the corners, for instance. Apple wrote the code. Tinkertool merely turns it on or off, graphically. Why do you want to expose this nonsense when the vast majority of people dont want it, or need it, and you have it already by fiddling with a plist.

Why not expose it? If they're going to let you move the Dock around to different sides of the screen, it seems bizarre not to let people control pinning.

Originally Posted by asdasd

I agree with popup folders and the double click idea, however.

An option for single- or double-clicking in the Dock is probably useful to fewer people than more positioning options. I agree that it would be a good thing, but it seems to me that you're just going by what you want rather than what actually makes sense or serves a reasonable purpose.