Does any Dock application add functionality?

[Scubdup]

I really like the idea of using a dock, and for a while I persevered with Cairo mainly because it looks good, but I did find that it’s behaviour was temperamental and not 100% reliable.

I am now prepared to sacrifice aesthetics for functionaility. Is there anything decent out there?

AVM and Docky seem to come up now and again. Does anyone use these and are they any good?

[eldragon]

its purely aesthetics imo.

i really dislike things that come chasing the mouse pointer whenever it is close to them. hence, i dont use the dock. i find the gnome panels and shortcuts much more useful.

for fancy searching, gnome-do works great.

[krazyd]

@ eldragon: I completely agree (except s/gnome/KDE/g ;) )

The one thing that's always annoyed me about docks is the amount of screen real-estate they take up compared to a panel. The default on OSX, for example, takes up a couple of centimetres on the bottom of the screen, as well as the panel at the top of the screen. I was using a friend's macbook the other day and it reduced the space available to safari by about 10-15% (my estimate). That's huge on a notebook.

See point nine here (http://www.asktog.com/columns/044top10docksucks.html).

[thalamus]

I use AWN and have the icons set pretty small so for me it is functional and doesn't take up much space. It does the job of a the bottom bar but is a bit more appealing to me.

[Scubdup]

Well I've set up Docky and apart from struggling to set which apps I can launch from it, I'm pretty happy with it so far.

Krazyd, I’m like you and value screen real estate. Personally I find a dock that autohides to help with that. I used to use Cairo dock to do away with the bottom bar. It worked reasonably well, but I’m hoping Docky might be more consistent.

[gradinaruvasile]

I dont think it adds functionality, its for eye candy and apple look-alikeness... Anyway i use cairo-dock and im happy with it (i find really useful the netspeed indicator in particular)

Just set cairo-dock to "keep below other windows" and you are set. When u maximize anything, it will remain in backgroung, and if u move the pointer ti the lower edge of the screen, it will appear in foreground.

[Scubdup]

My main problem with Cairo dock was that it wasn’t consistent – sometimes I could switch between open apps using it, sometimes they didn’t appear as options in the dock.

[NoaHall]

I use AWN, and as I always have windows open, I never use icons on the desktop, so it's really useful for me. My favourite applet is the little terminal - I don't have to go to menu or anything to open a terminal, and it hides anyway nicely, while still working. File Browser Launcher is also good.

[Lightstar]

I always remove my bottom bar in gnome before adding a dock, and I use the dock as the "taskbar". I do nothing else with it. But it makes a much prettier taskbar than the default.

[armageddon08]

Gnome-Do Docky works great - aesthetics + funtionality.

[londonali1010]

I personally prefer Gnome-Do (mini mode) for launching, because it's not on your screen unless you call it up with your prefered keybinding :)

However, I still need a taskbar somewhere or I lose track of what I have open; for that, I use the standard bottom panel, hidden.

[Scubdup]

I personally prefer Gnome-Do (mini mode) for launching, because it's not on your screen unless you call it up with your prefered keybinding :)

However, I still need a taskbar somewhere or I lose track of what I have open; for that, I use the standard bottom panel, hidden.

I'm currently using Docky with a top bar (which thanks to you, I'm going to try using hidden)

[muximus]

Docky is esp. good .. with the intellihide thing.. it hides if windows r big enuff to req any space in the bottom..else it doesnt.. n the search thing is very nice.. save a lot of time..

[alex13809]

Gnome-Do(dock style) is my personal favorite easy to use and even has a free clock.

[benerivo]

I like dockbarx, which lives as an applet inside my panel in gnome. I have shortcuts in the panel, and dockbarx acts as a separate area, using icons for any minimised windows i have. It really replaces the default window list applet, and it is especially useful for people who use either a lot of apps at one time, or have a vertical (side) panel.

[Viva]

I use AWN and find it very useful.