I have been reading lots of posts on this and other forums regarding the "uselessness" of Launchpad on Lion. But I think this feedback on it is quite harsh and in fact it is a good addition to OS X.
Many have citied the existence of dock, spotlight and finder already as reason enough not to need another application to perform the same task.
But I would suggest that just because these exist and are already in use by many people, that they cannot be effectively replaced or improved upon.
Let's look at a couple of examples:
Capacity
Neither the dock or dock stacks, have the ability to display a large number of icons without getting crowded, especially on a small screen. On my 13" MBP for example, I have been using a small dock with large magnification to deal with the problem. Also recently have reduced the number of icons in the dock to the daily essentials and started using the app stack in list format for everything else. But in either list or grid format I have to do a bit of scrolling, especially if I want to open Aperture, iMovie and Wunderlist at the same time. Yes, I can type A, I and W to speed things up, but still takes a bit longer.
With a 3 finger and thumb pinch I can bring up a grid with 40 apps available with one click, or if I use folders to the max, then access to hundreds of apps with 2 clicks. And if you have more than 500 apps you also can go onto extra pages.
For this Launchpad gets a +1
Sorting and configuring
Launchpad allows you to drag your apps into whatever order you wish and with the inclusion of folders, you can group apps together as you wish. Yes, the dock allows you to move icons about too, but as discussed in 1st section, you are limited to how many icons you can have before it gets crowded. Stacks doesn't offer any option to drag into a custom order.
Another + 1 for Launchpad
When not in use
Dock has an autohide feature, which means it disappears of the bottom of the screen when not in use. But this feature is quick clunky and sometimes can be slow returning when you place the cursor at the bottom of the screen. Dock also has the issue that when autohide is disabled that if you are doing something at the bottom of the window, sometimes you can hit the edge of the dock and suddenly the icon jumps up over what you are trying to read or click on .
Launchpad solves both these issues, it is completely hidden when not in use and doesn't cause unwanted interference with active windows.
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Taking these three elements, plus others, it is hard to see why so many are hating the launchpad or citing it as useless.
There is more than enough to make it great addition to OS X
Many have citied the existence of dock, spotlight and finder already as reason enough not to need another application to perform the same task.
But I would suggest that just because these exist and are already in use by many people, that they cannot be effectively replaced or improved upon.
Let's look at a couple of examples:
Capacity
Neither the dock or dock stacks, have the ability to display a large number of icons without getting crowded, especially on a small screen. On my 13" MBP for example, I have been using a small dock with large magnification to deal with the problem. Also recently have reduced the number of icons in the dock to the daily essentials and started using the app stack in list format for everything else. But in either list or grid format I have to do a bit of scrolling, especially if I want to open Aperture, iMovie and Wunderlist at the same time. Yes, I can type A, I and W to speed things up, but still takes a bit longer.
With a 3 finger and thumb pinch I can bring up a grid with 40 apps available with one click, or if I use folders to the max, then access to hundreds of apps with 2 clicks. And if you have more than 500 apps you also can go onto extra pages.
For this Launchpad gets a +1
Sorting and configuring
Launchpad allows you to drag your apps into whatever order you wish and with the inclusion of folders, you can group apps together as you wish. Yes, the dock allows you to move icons about too, but as discussed in 1st section, you are limited to how many icons you can have before it gets crowded. Stacks doesn't offer any option to drag into a custom order.
Another + 1 for Launchpad
When not in use
Dock has an autohide feature, which means it disappears of the bottom of the screen when not in use. But this feature is quick clunky and sometimes can be slow returning when you place the cursor at the bottom of the screen. Dock also has the issue that when autohide is disabled that if you are doing something at the bottom of the window, sometimes you can hit the edge of the dock and suddenly the icon jumps up over what you are trying to read or click on .
Launchpad solves both these issues, it is completely hidden when not in use and doesn't cause unwanted interference with active windows.
---
Taking these three elements, plus others, it is hard to see why so many are hating the launchpad or citing it as useless.
There is more than enough to make it great addition to OS X
