| Dock (computing) |
Article Index for Dock |
Website Links For Dock |
Information AboutDock (computing) |
|
The Dock is a Graphical User Interface feature first introduced in the NeXTSTEP and OPENSTEP Operating System s, and radically changed and refined in Mac OS X , where it behaves more like Newton s Newton OS Dock. In NeXTSTEP and OPENSTEP, the Dock is a repository to store frequently used Program s. The Icon for the Workspace Manager and the Recycler icons are always visible. The Dock indicates the program's current state (running or not running) by showing an ellipsis below its icon if the program is ''not'' running and nothing if it is currently running. (Contrast this behavior with the Dock in Mac OS X, which uses a triangle to indicate that the program ''is'' running and nothing if it has not yet been launched.) APPLE AND MAC OS X 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, and resizes them dynamically to fit while using magnification to clarify smaller resized items. These features are unlike those of 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 . The changes to the Dock bring its functionality closer to that of Apple 's Newton OS ''Button Bar''. The Button Bar included a Trash Can , the ability to drag application shortcuts in and out of the Finder , and animations and sounds that accompany launching of applications or moving of icons. The default position on the bottom of the desktop with the option to rearrange the dock along the sides instead, was also an early feature of Newton OS. The Mac OS X dock also has extended menus that can control applications without making them visible on-screen. On most applications it has simple options such as Quit, Keep On Dock and other options, but iTunes uses this menu as a way for a user to control the playback options from iTunes. Other Applications include changing the staus of an online alias (MSN, AIM/iChat etc.) or automatically saving the changes that have been made in a document (There is no current application with this feature made available for Mac OS X). Docklings can also be opened by using the right-mouse button, if the mouse has one, but most of the time either clicking and holding or control-click will bring the menu up. OTHER OPERATING SYSTEMS A similar feature has been a fundamental part of an operating system called RISC OS and its predecessor Arthur since its inception, beginning in 1987, which may pre-date the NeXTSTEP dock (released in 1989). Windows does not have a native dock equivalent, but many programs (like ObjectDock ) have sprung up due to the popularity of Mac OS X. Earlier versions of Mac OS did not have a dock, but an add-on such as A-dock adds a dock for users of earlier versions. IMAGES |
Image:docklingpng
| "http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/encyclopedia/entry/Mac_OS_X" class="copylinks">Mac OS X Dockling Used to control an application without bringing it into focus |
|
Image:Dockjpg
| "http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/encyclopedia/entry/Window_Maker" class="copylinks">Window Maker dock, similar to the NeXTSTEP dock |
|
|
|