Docks and Dashboards

For as long as it's been possible, I've had my Mac OS X dock placed on the right side of the screen, pinned to the top (instead of the default middle). I even had Mac OS 8/9 doing this for as long as the Applications Menu could be torn off and manipulated to look like a dock. It's the NeXTStep place to put it. Generally, I like the Dock, and how it combines application launching and running application management into a single widget (as well as offering shortcuts to documents and access to minimized windows). It's especially nice in comparison to the plethora of taskbar/launchbar/dock options found in Windows (although Windows XP does take some nice steps to clean up cluttered taskbars) and the stuffed-full-of-applet bars often found in Gnome and KDE. Those bars all have their purposes and uses, but I prefer simplicity and the Mac OS X dock gives it generously. An especially nice feature (when it's actually used) is that applications can have their own Dock Menus. Certain applications take good advantage of it, others ignore it completely. Radio 8 uses it well, offering quick access to the page I'm currently using to write this post, as well as to some other quick actions. Apple's iTunes uses it well, offering quick access to track controls (next/previous/play/pause) and the title and artist of the current playing track. And Brent Simmons' excellent NetNewsWire Lite makes the dock a very useful headline scanner (see screenshot). Having access like this a click away in the Dock is very useful - I often run up the dock with my Mouse checking info from certain applications while keeping them in the background. So, Applications that use the Dock Menu well make me happy.

Some applications, however, do not use it at all, but they should! Apple's new (young) iCal calendering application doesn't use it at all, but wouldn't it be handy if it displayed events and todo items for the current day (or week or month, based on configuration)? Similarly, Mac OS X's built in chat program, iChat forgoes a dock menu in favor of a global menubar item. There's some good reason for this - you can be signed in on iChat without the program running - but it's annoying when doing my little dock information crawl to have to go somewhere else for timely information. My instincts (rightly) take me to the dock first, menu bar second, and as such I'd like to change my status and check my buddy list from the Dock where I generally do so many other little tasks (like pausing iTunes when stepping out of the office).

So, where do dashboards fit into this? It's interesting to see the progress in Microsoft's MSN 8 offering. MSN 8 has a dashboard which you can attach to one side (left or right) of the screen and configure with parts updated with information from various MSN Sources. Paul Thurrot gives a detailed review (with screen shots). Some interesting things are the flyout windows, like this one based on the MSN Calendar component. It shows current appointments with shortcuts to add new ones. This dashboard concept is a major part of Longhorn, the code name for the next major revision of Windows. The point of all this is rapid access to constantly changing information.

Generally, I like the concept. But, looking at the size of the dashboards for MSN 8 and Longhorn makes me like Mac OS X's dock all the more. All of the items on it are still normal items on the system, not specialized objects (the Docklings that existed briefly in Mac OS X's life were a bad idea, and I'm glad to see them gone). Notification of change is done on the icon itself (Apple's Mail and iChat programs, along with AOL for Mac OS X and NetNewsWire, add a number to their icon indicating the number of newly received items), and allows the dock to remain small and out of the way.

The Dock - quick launcher, control strip, task switcher, window holder, information center, easily usable with 32x32 icons. Nice.