Animated Docks/Launchers (à la Mac OS)

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Olivier_G
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Animated Docks/Launchers (à la Mac OS)

Post by Olivier_G »

After seeing the Dock on a friend's Mac, I decided to look for a good and resource friendly one for my PC... :mrgreen:
Image

Candidates:
RK Launcher
+ Slightly better than others on CPU & RAM usage, very flexible (YZ's Docklets and some others)
- Memory is not released after configuring the program/docks :(
Y'z Dock
+ A lot of available docklets
- stopped, due to Apple's request
RocketDock
+ Plain fast and efficient, user friendly
- Memory is not released after configuring the program/docks :(
ObjectDock
+ as resource friendly as others once configured and has lots of available docks
- not much to say here
note the shareware Plus version that adds many useful features
Mobydock
+ I love the name :)
- developpement stopped, I don't like the unhiding>zoom transition

I chosed RK Launcher for its slight better RAM/CPU usage (manually tested, on similar configurations - nothing scientific though), the available docklets (Mail, CPU/RAM History, Weather, HD, WallPaper, Screenshot...) and the fact that it is under developpement. Memory usage is between 4MB and 9MB, depending on the docklets loaded as long as I restart it after reconfiguration. It's convenient, eye-candy and not too heavy on resources... Recommended :P

Then, you have to play with it:
- Docklets: on dockex and WinCustomize
- Icons: WinCustomize and in many other places (look for Icons or for 128x128 PNG Alpha images)

Olivier
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robc
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Joined: Mon Nov 14, 2005 12:53 pm

Post by robc »

Definitely RocketDock with the Stacks Docklet http://www.aqua-soft.org/board/showthread.php?t=46859. I've used RocketDock on XP Pro and now on Vista Ultimate without the slightest problem.
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JohnFredC
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Location: Sarasota Florida

Post by JohnFredC »

In my experience, Mac-style docks slow you down once the number of items exceeds 3 or 4... all that jumping around and expanding/contracting just slows the recognition process. The hand hesitates while the brain adjusts. All that motion looks cool, though.

Static, repeatable locations have provable benefits.

Nevertheless, Circle Dock is an alternative dock (with zooming icons if that turns you on) that is more "conscious" of mouse movement efficiencies (short distances and repeatability aid motor memory and hand/eye coordination). Circle Dock is in the spirit of the "marking menus" employed by 3-D modeling tools such as Maya.

It's free... check it out!
John
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