Dock (computing)

The Dock is a user interface feature first featured in the NeXTSTEP and OPENSTEP operating systems, and radically changed and refined in Mac OS X, where it has gained the behaviour of Newtons Newton OS Dock.

Related Topics:
NeXTSTEP - OPENSTEP - Operating system - Mac OS X - Newton - Newton OS

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In NeXTSTEP and OPENSTEP, the Dock is a repository to store frequently used programs. The icon for the Workspace Manager and the Recycler icons are always visible. Programs that are hidden are differentiated from programs that are not by the use of an ellipsis in the icons of nonrunning programs.

Related Topics:
Program - Icon - Ellipsis

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The Mac OS X Dock inherits many features from Apple's Newton OS Button Bar, including the trash can, the ability to drag applications in and out of the Finder, and the animations and sounds that visualize bouncing or the moving of icons. The default position on the bottom of the desktop and the options to rearrange the dock along the borders was also an early feature of Newton OS.

Related Topics:
Apple - Newton OS - Trash can - Finder

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In Mac OS X, however, the Dock is used as a repository for any program or file in the operating system. It can hold any number of items, but resizes them dynamically and uses magnification to clarify smaller resized items, unlike the dock in the NeXT operating systems, where the capacity of the Dock is fixed and dependent on the resolution the screen is set at. This may be an attempt to recover some Shelf functionality, since Mac OS X had no effective Shelf technology carried over from its NeXT heritage. Some of the shelf functionality has been integrated in the Macintosh Finder.

Related Topics:
Resolution - Shelf - Macintosh Finder

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Windows does not have a native dock equivalent, but many programs (like ObjectDock) have sprung up due to the popularity of Mac OS X. Links to several are provided below.

Related Topics:
Windows - ObjectDock

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