It is surprising to me how many people do not really know how to use Mac OS X dock feature. The Dock is a handy place to put all those frequently used apps so you can easily access them. More than that it is also a place you can stash documents and folders that you need to get at fast.
One thing to remember from the start is that items in the Dock are not really there. They are aliases of the original item stored in other locations. So, do not worry if you accidentally move something out of the Dock as the original is still there waiting for you to put it back.
The Dock keeps apps on the right side and you will see a small divider line that will be where folders, documents and minimized windows are located. You can re-organize items by clicking and dragging them. The Trash is always on the far right and the Finder is always on the far left.
To add an item to the Dock simply drag it to the Dock. To remove an item from the Dock, drag its icon an inch or more off the Dock (I like to move it at least ½ way up the page) and then let go and it vanishes in a poof of smoke.
Whenever you open an app it will temporarily be in the Dock. If you want it to stay there you can right click (control click) on the icon in the Dock and you will see a set of options such as “Keep in Dock” or “Remove from Dock”. You can also set that app to start up on log-in from that options screen.
Using the Dock System Preference you can set the size of the Dock or set magnification to highlight the apps as you scroll over them. I don’t like that much so I keep it turned off. You can also position the Dock on the left, right or bottom of your screen. I much prefer the bottom. There are a number of other options including an option to automatically hide and show the Dock.
I love the Dock and all of my most used apps reside there for quick launching. It is also handy because you can see at a glance which apps are open and if you are preserving processing power or battery power you can quickly close those that you are not using.
Got any Dock tricks to pass along?