OS X Mountain Lion Bible

Working with the Dock

Now that you are familiar with the menu bar, it is time to look at OS X's second stalwart interface mechanism, the Dock, shown in Figure 2.9.

New Feature

OS X Mountain Lion has changed the appearance of the Dock slightly, lightening the Dock's application bar to appear more like frosted glass than like its previous aluminum-like appearance.

Figure 2.9

The Dock is a tray used to quickly open and switch between applications, and it offers access to files and folders.

Located at the bottom of the screen, the Dock is a tray for commonly used applications, files, and OS X functions. The Dock uses many visual effects, including see-through transparency, reflections, and magnification and, as such, demonstrates much of Apple's legendary visual flair. But don't be fooled into thinking of it as a mere visual gimmick. The Dock is a powerful organizational tool that keeps your most important items in front of you for immediate access.

The Dock is used to launch your commonly used applications and to access commonly used files and folders. The Dock is divided into two halves: An easy-to-overlook gray dividing line marks the separation, like a lane divider stripe on a road. The left side is devoted to applications, whereas the right side is used for documents, folders, and minimized windows. You can adjust the position and appearance of the Dock, as explained later in ...