OS X Mountain Lion For Dummies

A Quick Introduction to Your Dock

Take a minute to look at the row of icons at the bottom of your display. That row, good friend, is the Dock (shown in Figure 4-1), and those individual pictures are known as icons (which I discuss in greater detail momentarily).

Figure 4-1: The Dock and all its default icons.

Dock and Launchpad (see Chapter 7) icons are odd ducks; you activate one with a single click. Most other icons in the Finder are selected (highlighted) when you single-click and are opened only when you double-click them. So Dock icons are kind of like links on a web page; you need only a single click to open them.

Here’s the rundown on what happens when you click Dock icons:

If it’s an application icon, the application opens and becomes active. If the application is already open, it becomes active, which brings it and all its windows to the front.

If it’s a document icon, that document opens in its appropriate application, which becomes the active application. If that application is already open, it becomes the active application with this document in the front.

If it’s a folder ...