5 of the Best Free Linux Docks
A dock is a graphical user interface element that allows the
user to have one-click access to frequently used applications. This
type of utility also enables users to switch quickly between
applications, as well as to monitor programs. This type of application
is an excellent way of extending the functionality and
usefulness of the desktop. In recent times, the popularity of the dock
has been enhanced by the Mac OS X operating system.
We have seen software applications that emulate the appearance
of the Mac OS X desktop on Linux. Mac4Lin is a popular way of giving
the Linux desktop the complete Mac look. However, many users do not
want to go that far and replicate the Mac look in its entirety.
Instead, some users simply want the functionality provided by the
application dock element. Here step forwards the Linux dock. However,
do not think of Linux docks as simply being a replication of the OS X
dock. The very best ones
add new functionality, and are more extensible than their OS X
counterpart.
The concept of the dock dates back many decades. Acorn
Computer's Arthur and NeXT's NEXTSTEP are early examples of operating
systems that implemented the dock concept.
Linux has a good selection of docks to choose from. One dock
which does not feature in this article but is worthy of a mention is
Daisy. This is a dock for KDE4 which is at an early stage of
development.
To provide an insight into the quality of software that is
available, we have compiled a list of 5 docks that genuinely
add to the desktop experience. Hopefully, there will be something of
interest here for the desktop user.
Now, let's explore the 5 docks at hand. For each title we have
compiled its own portal page, a full description with an in-depth
analysis of its features, screenshots, together with links to relevant
resources and reviews.
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Last Updated Friday, April 06 2012 @ 05:21 AM EDT
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