Section 3.2. Dock Features | Switching to the Mac[c] The Missing Manual

3.2. Dock Features

Most of the time, you'll use the Dock as either a launcher (click an icon once to open the corresponding program, file, folder, or disk) or as a status indicator (the tiny black triangles , identified in Figure 3-1, indicate which programs are running).

But the Dock has more tricks than that up its sleeve. You can use it, for example, to pull off any of the following stunts.

3.2.1. Switch Applications

The Dock does much of what the Windows taskbar doesand more. For example, it lets you:

Jump among your open programs by clicking their icons.
-drag a document (such as a text file) onto a Dock application button (such as the Microsoft Word icon) to open the former with the latter.
Hide all windows of the program you're in by Option-clicking another Dock icon.

3.2.2. Use Secret Menus

It turns out that if you Control-click a Dock iconor, if you're in no hurry, hold down the mouse button on ita hidden menu sprouts out (Figure 3-2).

If you've clicked a minimized window icon, this shortcut menu usually says only Open. But if you've clicked any other kind of icon, you get some very useful hidden commands. For example:

[Window names ] . At the top of the shortcut menus of most running-application Dock icons, you'll find at least one tiny, neatly labeled window icon, as shown in Figure 3-5. This useful feature means that you can jump directly not just to a certain program, but to a certain open window in that program.

For example, suppose you've been using Word to edit three different chapters. You can use Word's Dock icon as a Window menu to pull forward one particular chapter, or (if it's been minimized) to pull it upeven from within a different program.

Tip: The Finder tile that's always at the beginning of the Dock is, in effect, its own Window menu. By holding the mouse down on this icon for a moment, you produce a menu that lists all open desktop windows.

Keep In Dock/Remove from Dock . Whenever you launch a program, Mac OS X puts its icon in the Dockmarked with a little black triangleeven if you don't normally keep the icon there. As soon as you quit the program, its icon disappears again from the Dock.

If you understand that much, then the Keep In Dock command makes a lot of sense. It means, "Hello, I'm this program's icon. I know you don't normally keep me on your Dock, but I'd be happy to stay here even after you quit my program. Just say the word."

On the other hand, what if a program's icon is always on the Dock (even when it's not running) and you don't want it there? In that case, this command says Remove from Dock instead. It gets the program's icon off of the Dock, thereby returning the space it was using to other icons.

Use this last command on programs you rarely use. When you do want to run those programs, you can always use Spotlight to fire them up.
Open at Login . This command lets you specify that you want this icon to open itself automatically each time you log in to the Mac. It's a great way to make sure that your email Inbox, your calendar, or the Microsoft Word thesis you've been working on is fired up and waiting, ready, on the screen when you sit down to work.
Show In Finder . Choose this command to highlight the actual icon (in whatever folder window it happens to sit) of the application, alias, folder, or document you've clicked. You might want to do this when, for example, you're using a program that you can't quite figure out, and you want to jump to its desktop folder in hopes of finding a Read Me file there.

Tip: If you really want to reveal an icon in the Finder, there's a much faster way: -click its Dock icon. This takes you to the original instantly.

Hide/Show . This operating system is crawling with ways to hide or reveal a selected batch of windows. Here's a case in point: You can hide all traces of the program you're using by choosing Hide from its Dock icon. (Section 4.2 lists several other methods , too.)

Figure 3-5. Control-click a Dock icon, or click and hold on it, to open the secret menu. The names at the top of this shortcut menu are the names of the windows currently open in that program. The checkmark next to a window's name indicates that it's the frontmost window of that program (even if the program is in the background).

What's kind of cool here is that (a) you can even hide the Finder and all its windows, and (b) if you press Option, the command changes to say Hide Others. This, in its way, is a much more powerful command. It tells all of the programs you're not usingthe ones in the backgroundto get out of your face. They hide themselves instantly.

Note: Once you've hidden a program's windows, this command changes to say Show, which is how you make them reappear.

Quit . You can quit any programbesides the Finder and Dashboarddirectly from its Dock shortcut menu. You don't have to switch into a program in order to access its Quit command. (Troubleshooting moment: If you get nothing but a beep when you use this Quit command, it's because you've hidden the windows of that program, and one of them has unsaved changes. Click the program's icon, save your document, and then try to quit again.)

Tip: If you hold down the Option keyeven after you've opened the pop-up menuthe Quit command changes to say Force Quit. That's your emergency hatch for jettisoning a locked-up program.

3.2.3. Great Things to Put on Your Dock

Now that you know what the Dock's about, it's time to set up shop. Install the programs, folders, and disks you'll be using most often.

They can be whatever you want, of course, but don't miss these opportunities:

Your Home folder . Many Mac fans immediately drag their hard drive icons onto the right side of the Dockor, perhaps more practically, their Home folders (see Section 1.10.2). Now they have quick access to every single file in every single folder they'll ever use.
The Applications folder . Here's a no-brainer: Stash the Applications folder here, so you'll have quick pop-up menu access to any program on your machine.
The Documents folder . The Documents folder in your Home folder is another primary center for your Mac activity. Stash it here for quick access.
The Shared folder . If you're using the Mac's accounts feature (Chapter 12), this is your wormhole between all accountsthe one place you can put files where everybody can access them.