Have a Mac-like Dock in Windows

These two applications for Windows easily emulate the dock feature of the MAC OS X by simply installing them.

I have always viewed Apple as an expert in selling products with an excellent user interface. When I got my first iPod (the iPod Video – 60GB) I was really amazed at the beauty, simplicity, and ease of use of the device. It was all of these without losing its primary purpose – great music.

Undoubtedly, the MAC OS X is also visually compelling, and easy to use like the iPod. One of the reasons for this is the dock feature of the MAC OS X. The dock is not just a great tool because of its many uses (shortcuts for commonly used programs, etc.), but also because of the beautiful user interface (smooth and fast scrolling, zooming feature, great looking icons, etc.).

I was a bit surprised though when I saw that there are already many applications for Windows which emulate the dock feature of MAC OS X. The best I’ve seen are:

1. RocketDock

RocketDock is one of these applications which emulates the dock feature. Besides being a good shortcut tool, minimized windows or applications can appear as icons in the dock.

Have a Mac-like Dock in Windows graphic01

 

2. RK Launcher

RK Launcher is another application or program for Windows which emulates the dock feature of MAC OS X. This application closely resembles the dock as its default dock icons are already Mac icons and the zooming is very similar to real dock.

Have a Mac-like Dock in Windows graphic02

 

However, from what I’ve read, Apple has already patented the Mac OS X dock last October 2008. Apple reportedly applied for the patent in 1999 but was only granted the patent almost 10 years later. I don’t know how this affects programs that emulate the dock of the Mac OS X like RocketDock and RK launcher but Apple may do something if they feel that these applications infringe their patent.

After testing these two out, I felt that applications like the RocketDock and RK launcher does a good job at emulating the dock of the MAC OS X. With the approved patent of Apple though, the future of applications like these two may be nearing their end.


 

 

 
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Written by Ige.
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