As factory default, the Dock is located at the bottom of your screen. It’s a repository for things such as your Trash Can, where you drag files to get rid of them, and where you drag things like CD’s to eject them. The Dock houses icons for Applications that are running, as well as applications that are frequently used for fast, easy access. Say, for instance, that you often use Microsoft Excel. Perhaps since you use it so regularly, you’d like to have it always visible on the Dock, allowing you quick access to it when you need it!
OK, so if the Dock houses both applications that are running, and applications that you put there that may NOT be running, how do you tell the difference? This is probably one of my biggest gripes with Mac OS X, that it doesn’t make a very ideal visual delineation between running & non-running apps in the Dock. The only way you can tell if a program is sitting idle in the Dock versus being open is whether it has a little black triangle underneath it’s icon (note: in 10.5, they have changed it to a blue dot). yes that's it, and yes, I wish it was more. however, once you know, it's pretty easy to deal and work with.
Oh, and closing Applications? Using the red "Close" button does not always quit an application. The reasoning behind this can be rather complex and vague, but as a general rule of thumb, if an application can display more than one window at a time on the screen, using the "Close" button only closes the window; quitting the application requires either selecting "Quit" from under the File menu, right-clicking the Dock icon and selecting Quit, or hitting the Apple Key and "Q."
The idea is that if hitting the Red “Close” button in the left corner quit the program and you had multiple windows open, what would happen to those other windows? Say you were typing up three reports? when you’re done with one do you want it to close the whole program, taking the other two documents with it?
Placing Oft-Used Files, Folders, & Apps in the Dock
Just like with the Sidebar in the Finder, if you want a quick shortcut to an application, file, or folder to appear in the Dock, simply drag its icon there. If you decide later to remove its shortcut from the Dock, you can drag it off, leaving the file intact where it originally lay, and only removing the shortcut.
The only thing to be concerned with here is where you place your target. If you inspect the Dock closely, you’ll notice it’s actually divided into two parts; a left & right. To the left of the divide is reserved solely for applications. Dragging files or folders here will not place a shortcut to the item. However, the right side of the divide – where the Trash Can is – accepts files, folders, even links for quick access. Say you usually open a specific document when you turn on your computer. Rather than dig to the folder where that file is every time you need it, simply drag the icon towards the right side of the Dock and release. Now with your new shortcut, you can simply hit the shortcut you created on the Dock & it’ll pop right up!
This trick works for Folders as well. Say you have a folder with lots of files you access often. If you put a shortcut to this folder in the Dock, you have quick, easy access to the contents of that folder with just a click. Better yet, if you right-click on the folder, you get a quick & dirty menu that shows you the files in the folder.
Things to Know, things to Modify
The first icon on the Dock is always the Finder. As mentioned in a previous article, the reason is simple: it’s arguably the most important program on your computer! However, with the exception of the Finder & the Trash Can, every other icon can be moved to change its order, removed from, and placed on, the Dock. So, if you want your icons to display in a certain order or be grouped in a certain way, feel free drag them around to assign them as you see fit.
Another nifty feature of the Dock is intrinsically linked to each window you have open. Almost without exception, every window will have a Red, Yellow, & Green “button” in the upper-left corner. The red button closes the window, the green one toggles between the document opening up to 100% view or the size you otherwise specified. The yellow button “minimizes” the window to the Dock’s Right side. What this does is get the window out of your way until you call it back. It’s a great way to hide a window you don’t want readily visible at the moment for whatever reason, and is an alternative way of organizing and arranging your open windows. One thing of note about this feature is that windows temporarily minimized to the Dock are not handled by Exposé, Mac OS X’s window management features.
The Dock has its own set of preferences, including its native size, whether it zooms when you put your mouse over it, and even the visual effect used when minimizing windows to the Dock. You can modify these settings in the System Preferences. Of course you can navigate to the System Preferences option like described here, but why do that when there’s faster, more fun way? If you place your mouse over the divide between left & right on the Dock, you can gain a quick shortcut to the Dock preference pane. A right-click brings up a small menu with common Dock preferences, and an option to take you to the preference pane. Also of note, with the mouse over the divide, if you do a regular left-click, you can drag your mouse up and down to modify the static, native size of your Dock.
End
The Dock is an important tool to understand, because it’s one of those that is always present and can be considered – along with the Finder – the gateway to everything else on your machine. While it’s a relatively simple interface once you understand its function and design, we’ve still managed to fill up this whole page describing its rich feature set & options.
Now go and modify the Dock the way you like!