Change unpinned icon position in Dock

[dusk007]

I am wondering if it is possible to fix the position of an icon in the dock without actually pinning it there. Thus it is not on the dock unless it is launched but when it is in the dock it is on a specific location.
I think those overly crowed docks are pointless and only for people who are incapable of useing spotlight or other launchers.
I launch apps with spot light and use the dock much like a windows Taskbar. The problem I want my browser close together but I don't want safari's button to be around unless it is actually launched. I sometimes hit it accidentially and there is no point to it being there when it's not running, at least none that I can think of.

 

[GGJstudios]

I am wondering if it is possible to fix the position of an icon in the dock without actually pinning it there. Thus it is not on the dock unless it is launched but when it is in the dock it is on a specific location.

Not in native Mac OS X. Perhaps a 3rd party app would do that.

I think those overly crowed docks are pointless and only for people who are incapable of useing spotlight or other launchers.

Launching an app from its Dock icon is MUCH faster than opening a Spotlight search, typing some or all of the app name, waiting for the search results, then clicking on that. And you don't need to crowd your Dock. You can use stacks for frequently used apps. Click. Click. Done.

I launch apps with spot light and use the dock much like a windows Taskbar.

That's your choice, but it's not a Windows taskbar. Mac OS X doesn't pretend to be Windows.

And no

 

[dusk007]

Thanks though for the answer.

Launching an app from its Dock icon is MUCH faster than opening a Spotlight search, typing some or all of the app name, waiting for the search results, then clicking on that. And you don't need to crowd your Dock. You can use stacks for frequently used apps. Click. Click. Done.

I am sorry but if you do it like this you are exactly one of those people that I was referring too.
I press CMD+Space hit "b" "e" "t" and Enter. In a split second. It opens BetterTouchTool.
I need more time to get my finger to the touchpad let alone find and click an icon.
I can do the former blind and much much faster.

What you get wrong is; You don't have to wait for SpotLight to find anything. If you hit enter before it shows anything it will take the first item and as long as you gave enough letters to get the result you want it will open the right app.
And nobody but people who like a dock like launcher would ever think of
typing letters and after that move the fingers to the touchpad or hand to a mouse and actually click the result.


I know a Dock is not supposed to be a Windows Taskbar. Unfortunately.
The Win7 Taskbar is definitely better if it is set to combine if full and not the default icon thing and used like a Dock.
There are things OSX does great the Dock IMO is not one of which. A Windows Task bar offers more information, takes less space and even works better for navigation. The Dock always takes a lot of space and offers almost no info expect that a given App is running. You cannot even set it to hide because it takes seemingly forever to reappear once you reach the edge of the screen.

Maybe I can find a 3rd party App.

 

[spinnerlys]

Alfred is a much faster application launcher, though there are many others out there, like LaunchBar or QuickSilver.
http://www.alfredapp.com/

 

[GGJstudios]

I press CMD+Space hit "b" "e" "t" and Enter. In a split second. It opens BetterTouchTool.
I need more time to get my finger to the touchpad let alone find and click an icon.

That's why I use a mouse. Much faster and more accurate than the touchpad, which I rarely touch.

You don't have to wait for SpotLight to find anything. If you hit enter before it shows anything it will take the first item and as long as you gave enough letters to get the result you want it will open the right app.

That only works if the first item on the list is the desired app. If you have recently received an email or downloaded or created a document that fits the search terms you type, you could end up opening one of those instead of the app, if you press enter before the search results are complete.

And nobody but people who like a dock like launcher would ever think of typing letters and after that move the fingers to the touchpad or hand to a mouse and actually click the result.

Again, much faster with the mouse, especially if the app is far down on the list. I can point and click faster than typing the full name of some apps or pressing the down arrow several times to get to it.

The point is that some people are more keyboard oriented and some are more mouse/trackpad oriented. There's no need to criticize or put down people who prefer a method that might not be your choice.