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.
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.
To provide an insight into the quality of software that is available, we have compiled a list of 12 docks that genuinely add to the desktop experience. Hopefully, there will be something of interest here for the desktop user.
Linux has a good selection of docks to choose from. Here’s our rating for each of them. They are all open source goodness. We give our highest recommendation to Latte, Plank Reloaded and Crystal Dock.
Click the links in the table below to learn more about each dock.
| Docks | |
|---|---|
| Latte | Based on plasma frameworks offering elegance and beauty |
| Plank Reloaded | Lightweight, customizable Linux dock |
| Crystal Dock | Cool desktop panel with parabolic zooming effect for KDE Plasma |
| tint2 | Simple and light open source taskbar |
| Simdock | Fast and customizable dockbar |
| Plank | Simple dock with basic functionality |
| Cairo-Dock | Light and eye-candy dock to launch your programs |
| xpybar | Highly extensible minimalistic dock panel |
| DDE Dock | Dock of Deepin Desktop Environment |
| KSmoothDock | Desktop panel with parabolic zooming effect for KDE Plasma 5 |
| Docky | Elegant, powerful, clean dock |
| Avant Window Navigator | Mac OS X like panel for GNOME |
This article has been updated to reflect the changes outlined in our recent announcement.
 Explore our comprehensive directory of recommended free and open source software. Our carefully curated collection spans every major software category.This directory is part of our ongoing series of informative articles for Linux enthusiasts. It features hundreds of detailed reviews, along with open source alternatives to proprietary solutions from major corporations such as Google, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, and Autodesk. You’ll also find interesting projects to try, hardware coverage, free programming books and tutorials, and much more. Know a useful open source Linux program that we haven’t covered yet? Let us know by completing this form. |