Mac OS X Dock
The Dock is the central organizational tool in Mac OS X. Its primary functions are to:
- Provide a shortcut for launching applications. You can single-click on application icons that are listed in the in the Dock to open them. Other applications can be dragged into the left/top portion of the Dock.
- Show which applications are running. Applications that are running will have a triangle under or next to their icon, depending on the orientation of the Dock.
- Keep documents or folders within easy reach. You can also add files or folders to the right/bottom section of the Dock. Single-click on them to open them.
Normally, the Dock will appear on the bottom edge of your main screen. However, it can be moved to the left or right side of the display. If you have multiple monitors, it will appear on the same display as the Mac OS X menu bar.
The Dock can be hidden.
You can navigate through the Dock at any time, from within any application, using the Command-Tab keyboard shortcut. This will move you from the current open application to the next running program displayed in the Dock. Command-Shift-Tab is the reverse.
While you are navigating through the Dock, you can press Q to quit or H to hide the highlighted application.
If you have a multi-button mouse, you can right click (see Right-clicking) on items in the Dock to get more information or perform extra actions. If you don't have a multi-button mouse, a Control-click on the icon will do the same thing.
