Welcome back to Mac 101, our series of tips for new and novice Mac users.
The Dock was introduced with Mac OS 10.0 in March of 2001. Switchers typically think of it as equivalent to the Windows Task Bar, and that's not an unfounded comparison. Both can launch applications, open directories and share information. But the Dock differs from the Task Bar in a number of ways. If you're new to the Mac, this post will get you acquainted with one of Mac OS X's prominent features.
First, let's look at the Dock's preference pane. Launch System Preferences and click (wait for it) Dock. Here, two sliders let you adjust the Dock's size and magnification level. That is to say, the degree to which docked icons "expand" as you mouse over them. They can get pretty darn large, so be sure that's what you want before dragging that slider all the way to the right.
You'll notice that you can adjust the Dock's position on the screen. The position of the Dock is the subject of great debate among Mac nerds, but I'll spare you the details by saying this: Some like it on the bottom, some like it on the left and some like it on the right. If you're running 10.5 or later, you'll notice that the Dock's appearance changes dramatically when moved from the bottom to the sides.
The so-called "Genie Effect" lets your windows appear to be rapidly "sucked" into the Dock when you click the yellow minimize button. That's strictly for looks, and you can disable it by selecting "Scale." If you're running an older Mac (like a PPC G4), selecting Scale will slightly reduce the graphics burden on your older machine. Fun tip: Hold down the Shift key while minimizing a window for some slow-mo action.
At last, you'll see a checkbox labeled "Animate opening applications." This refers to the bouncing that icons do as applications launch. I don't mind it, but some people (my sister included) can't stand it and disable it right away.
The final option will hide the Dock when not in use. Specifically, it "slides" off screen until you mouse over the area it typically occupies. This is handy for folks with small screens, like the 13" MacBook Pro or those who prefer a clean look. You can also hide the Dock at any time by pressing Command-Option-D.
Once you've set its behavior to your liking, it's time to populate the Dock. The Dock keeps applications on the left and folders and windows on the right. To add an item, be it an app's icon, a folder or a file, simply drag it in. You'll see the neighboring icons "move aside" to make room. As a rule, I add the hard drive, applications folder and documents folder for easy access. To remove an item, simply drag it out of the Dock and let go. Poof! It's gone.
Lastly, let's talk about stacks. Stacks is the method by which OS X displays the contents of a docked folder. Click on the hard drive in the Dock, for example, and you'll see a stack of folders like Users, System, Library, Applications, etc. As the number of items grows, the stack gets too high and defaults to Fan view, which presents a black square and the folder's contents. The final option is list view, which displays an alphabetical list of folder contents.
By default, OS X selects the optimal view automatically, based upon the number of items in a folder. However, you can force it to use the view of your choice by right-clicking (or left clicking and holding) on a folder icon in the Dock.
There are the basics of working with the Dock. We hope you found something here useful.
The Dock was introduced with Mac OS 10.0 in March of 2001. Switchers typically think of it as equivalent to the Windows Task Bar, and that's not an unfounded comparison. Both can launch applications, open directories and share information. But the Dock differs from the Task Bar in a number of ways. If you're new to the Mac, this post will get you acquainted with one of Mac OS X's prominent features.
First, let's look at the Dock's preference pane. Launch System Preferences and click (wait for it) Dock. Here, two sliders let you adjust the Dock's size and magnification level. That is to say, the degree to which docked icons "expand" as you mouse over them. They can get pretty darn large, so be sure that's what you want before dragging that slider all the way to the right.
You'll notice that you can adjust the Dock's position on the screen. The position of the Dock is the subject of great debate among Mac nerds, but I'll spare you the details by saying this: Some like it on the bottom, some like it on the left and some like it on the right. If you're running 10.5 or later, you'll notice that the Dock's appearance changes dramatically when moved from the bottom to the sides.
The so-called "Genie Effect" lets your windows appear to be rapidly "sucked" into the Dock when you click the yellow minimize button. That's strictly for looks, and you can disable it by selecting "Scale." If you're running an older Mac (like a PPC G4), selecting Scale will slightly reduce the graphics burden on your older machine. Fun tip: Hold down the Shift key while minimizing a window for some slow-mo action.
At last, you'll see a checkbox labeled "Animate opening applications." This refers to the bouncing that icons do as applications launch. I don't mind it, but some people (my sister included) can't stand it and disable it right away.
The final option will hide the Dock when not in use. Specifically, it "slides" off screen until you mouse over the area it typically occupies. This is handy for folks with small screens, like the 13" MacBook Pro or those who prefer a clean look. You can also hide the Dock at any time by pressing Command-Option-D.
Once you've set its behavior to your liking, it's time to populate the Dock. The Dock keeps applications on the left and folders and windows on the right. To add an item, be it an app's icon, a folder or a file, simply drag it in. You'll see the neighboring icons "move aside" to make room. As a rule, I add the hard drive, applications folder and documents folder for easy access. To remove an item, simply drag it out of the Dock and let go. Poof! It's gone.
Lastly, let's talk about stacks. Stacks is the method by which OS X displays the contents of a docked folder. Click on the hard drive in the Dock, for example, and you'll see a stack of folders like Users, System, Library, Applications, etc. As the number of items grows, the stack gets too high and defaults to Fan view, which presents a black square and the folder's contents. The final option is list view, which displays an alphabetical list of folder contents.
By default, OS X selects the optimal view automatically, based upon the number of items in a folder. However, you can force it to use the view of your choice by right-clicking (or left clicking and holding) on a folder icon in the Dock.
There are the basics of working with the Dock. We hope you found something here useful.
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