dock space?

[jbusc]

I was working the other day on my macbook and I started wishing I had more screen space (since I was using a lot of windows open...) and I noticed that because of the fact that I only have a few items in my dock, and the widescreen on the macbook, there is a lot of "wasted space" showing nothing but my wallpaper on either side of my dock...

The obvious responses are to either make my dock hide, add more items to my dock to increase it's width/space utilization, or make the height/size as small as possible.

I don't really like any of those options, though, because I use the dock a lot to switch between apps (and use expose/F10 within each app) because I have too many apps open to use expose effectively (lots of windows open! easier to click on each app's dock icon)

any advice anyone? thanks

 

[grapes911]

Since most apps fit in 4x3, I put my dock on the left. It takes some getting used to, but it really is worth it and a good way to take advantage widescreen.

 

[gr8tfly]

I have a ridiculous number of apps on mine, but it never really interferes with the useable space - it's minimum size, some magnification (~40%), and auto-hide. Position is bottom. My screen is a bit bigger than yours, being the 17"MBP, but you might want to play with a combination of small size and magnification. The auto-hide has enough "delay" to prevent accidental activation most of the time.

 

[Angrist]

I personally hide the dock and use quicksilver for launching.

For window switching:
cmd-tab between apps
cmd-tilde to switch windows within the application

When the cmd-tab screen is up, you can also use the mouse to pick the app as well.

 

[NuDarwin]

agreed, for widescreen laptops stick it on the left. if you don't want to hide it or change the size, then this all you can do.

your other option is to use Option + Tab to change apps.

 

[roland.g]

I put my dock on the left or right alot, especially when working in photoshop. I also use apple (command) -tab to switch applications.

 

[PlaceofDis]

I personally hide the dock and use quicksilver for launching.

For window switching:
cmd-tab between apps
cmd-tilde to switch windows within the application

When the cmd-tab screen is up, you can also use the mouse to pick the app as well.

this is what i do. works wonders.

 

[pianoman]

you could make it small but make magnification big. moving it to the side is also a good idea.

 

[polevault139]

I cant tell you the las timeI used the dock to launch an application. I use Quicksilver all the time and cmd+tab. Quicksilver works wonders and I have triggers for my four most common programs so all i have to do is push a few buttons on the keyboard and all of my normal applications are up.