RichardGaywood

Join Date 04/2006

Icon duplication between "running programs" and "shortcuts"

Can it work like OS X?

Hi there. I've only been using Object Dock for an hour or so, evaluating the free to see if I want to pay for the Pro version, and so far most of it is very impressive. Less impressive is that lack of start menu support on WinXP-64, but that may be fixed in the next release, it seems (a forum thread mentioned Vista 64 was fixed but didn't mention WinXP).

However.

On OS X, you have a strip of icons, and when an app is running you get a little triangle underneath it. In ObjectDock, you get the triangle, and a second icon for the app appears on the right hand side of the dock amongst the "running programs" list. I think it would be preferable to hide the program from the running programs list if it has a shortcut in the main part of the dock.

This is actually one of the main things I wanted from the program, to reduce clutter on the task switcher; I have a powerful development machine with 4Gb RAM and often have upwards of 40 programs open at once, by which point the Windows GUI is almost useless for task management. That many icons across the ObjectDock makes them rather small, even on my 1680x1050 monitor. The grouping and multiple bar support in Pro will help there, of course, but I still don't want duplication between these two bits of the dock.

So, can ObjectDock do this?

Also, do Stardock offer any products that do something similar to Expose?

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Not sure if this is exactly what you want but in Dock Settings under the DOCK CONTENTS tab you can choose to "display my icons only" in which case you wont get any icons for open programs - its all or nothing though.

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Yeah, I've seen that, but as you say, it's all-or-nothing. What I want is a middle setting that says "show all running tasks that are not already represented as a shortcut somewhere else on the bar". That's how OS X does it, and that makes much more sense to me. I imagine it's possible; presumably Stardock are hooking into some Windows API to get a running task list and then building the icon display from it -- they'd need to add some filtering logic to that process to remove duplicate entries.

Apart from that I'd be totally happy to replace the combination of my Windows task bar and a big quick launch bar on the side of my screen with 30-odd apps on it with ObjectDock, which would be a big win for my screen space. Shame.

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ZubaZ

Join Date 11/2001

+917

I have seperate docks for running tasks and shortcuts. It works for me. OD+ of course for the multiple tabs. Runnning tasks in a normal doack at the top ot the screen, taskbar shortcuts at the bottom, Misc shortcuts in a tab on the left.

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That's not a bad workaround... perhaps I'll stump up the $20 then, and do that.

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The best $20 I have spent RichardGaywood

With a similar setup as Zubaz depending on what I am doing, hiding the taskbar ect has made using my computer a much more convenient & because of such a great assortment of backgrounds more enjoyable as well. I also have 1 dock that is kept in background when not in use. Also remember to save your themes after setup. This folder is found in the My Documents OD folder, so backups are easy.

It's My Secret

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Yes, this software is definitely worth 20USD! I was just introduced to the newest Mac OS at school and loved the dock. I remembered using this software before I upgraded my machine and Presto! I've replaced my task bar with ObjectDock completely - using the start bar docklet and clock on left (my own clock

) with Running tasks centered on bottom. I just made another dock for the system try icons on the far right, it's the only auto-hide dock, I usually only need to use it for Foobar2k and opening my g15 keyboard accessories. Here's a

screen shot

Only problem (besides the well documented start button docklet glitch) is the silly recycle bin issue - of not being able to empty it easily or to drag things into it while in locked mode.

Ummm, I'm pretty sure I have just been rambling in this post.. But I'm sure I started with a point in mind

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vStyler

Join Date 11/2004

+919

But I'm sure I started with a point in mind

You like the software

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vStyler, I was sure I started out talking about the US's domestic policies.. but who knows

Okay peeps, I think I found a temp fix to the recycle bin problem:

WWW Link

Unzip to %dir%/Docklets/RecycleBin , reload OD, and then substitute this new dock (lower on the docklet list than the 'default-entry') for the default RecycleBin docklet.

This docklet allows you to have 'Lock Dragging' enabled on your docks **joy**
It also lets you right-click and empty the contents.
Also allows you to have the option to be "warned" that you're deleting something (hey, some ppl might find this useful

)
In addition, it still allows you to use your own Icons for empty and full
Lastly, it tells you how much KB/MB/GB is currently in the Recycle Bin

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I asked similar question ~10 month ago.

The thing about OS X approach, is that you always go to the same place to launch application or to switch to a running copy. If application is pinned to dock, it stays on the same place which means that you can spend less time looking for icon when selecting it. With multi-dock approach, I have to first look if program is running and then go to separate dock (or tab).

It would be great if objectdock can support this functionality.

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