Simple Question

[Siron]

I'm a Mac newbie from Windoze (that I still use for gaming and some business apps). In Windows if I wanted to access my apps from the tray I simply created a shortcut and dragged it their. I see in Leopard that you can create an Alias which is I assume the same as a Shortcut. However I can Command drag the application icon (which puts a + sign next to the icon - indicating a copy function?) from the Applications folder. Does this do the same thing as creating an Alias or does it copy the whole application (taking up extra disk space).
I ask this because on some applications I cannot create an Alias. I have a folder on my dock in which I have added Aliases for Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. However I cannot create an Alias for Parallels as there this is not an option if I right click on its icon in Applications.
What's the right way of doing this?
Thanks
Alan

 

[Morod]

If you're just trying to keep an application in the dock, open the application and right-click on its dock icon. Select "Keep In Dock" from the menu. Close the app and the icon will remain in the dock.
Morod

 

[Siron]

Great - thanks.
Alan