So wait, tabbed docks have none of the icon effects?

I am using OD+ & I have the zoom effect on tabs. It is found under Size & Appearance....check the box...Use Zoom effect on entries on tabbed dock

It's My Secret

Yeah there is the zoom effect as described. However all the crazy effects found in a normal dock are not there. Sorry for the trouble. 

Which is good!.

The subtle zoom is enough... but please if it is implemented make sure to make it possible to be disabled!

Surely the effects your talking about would eventually become meh, after all if you want to use the spin effect just do a twirl in your chair or the rock effect trust me you won't miss the effects nough said.

You're assuming everybody on the planet shares your preference. I, for one, do not.

What I'd like is to have tabs on my dock. That's how I thought it worked before I bought the plus version. I was mightily disappointed to discover the tabbed docks were a completely different beast.

So now I either have to have a bunch of separate docks, or a regular dock and a tabbed dock. I can't for the life of me figure out why StarDock decided not to allow the dock itself to be tabbed, but instead decided to make an entirely different dock for tabbed features.

The way it is now I doubt I'll still be using OD beyond the first few days. I have too many programs for the regular dock, not to mention too many systray icons, as long as it can't be tabbed. I also don't much like the limitations of the tabbed dock, and I especially don't like the idea of needing one of each.

I doubt the tabs look good while zooming like the normal dock does. And I can imagine technical limitations to achive that effect also, especially doing skins for it, that have to look good in zoomed and unzoomed states.

The tabbed docks are fine as they are, in my opinion. As a complement to the dock for those that prefer a less flashy approach.

I don't want SD to touch the tabbed dock, I want them to enhance the non-tabbed one. I can't imagine it being terribly hard to do. One can already have multiple docks with different settings and content. It should be pretty simple to include an option to have some labels one could click that effectively hid one dock and replaced it with another.

Well, You can do that with DesktopX and Objectbar. For me that is no task for ObjectDock to do.

I often chuckle when non-developers suggest how easy something should be.  
Sometimes when I think I know what's going on I'll talk to the dev and he'll start going off on what all is related to what and I'll nod my head politely (via chat).

I always like to have as many options as possible but I think I am an exception in the real world (here at WC things are the opposite).
Most users want a simple tool that does a simple task.  I think OD does that pretty well now.  I also think that many more features will cause the configuration process to get crazy for JoeUser.  There has to be some balance there too.

Incidently, my card claims my title is senior system engineer though my primary task currently is development. Which isn't necessarily terribly relevant considering the width of different areas and technologies those terms can apply to. But I'd like to think it's at least marginally relevant since there's some amount of client coding involved in my case.

I didn't say "is", I said "should". I have no doubt doubt the SD coders are infinitely better than me at type of application in question here. And as such I would assume their code to be nice and clean. And I'd be shocked if it's not object oriented. Which would, theoretically, make it fairly easy to swap one dock for another on the fly.

My assumption is the cause of my disappointment, of course. When the info stated the plus version had the option of tabbed docks, it never crossed my mind they'd actually have created a new type of dock for that instead of adding tabs to the type of dock I was using in the free version.

Yes. And no. More options does not necessarily mean more complex for the average user. Many UIs have basic and advanced layout choices, or a layout that has the basic features readily visible and the advanced features a bit more out of the way to avoid clutter and confusion.

Then there's the sales blurb for OD which contains the word "control" several times. Highlighting the ability to organize things to be "when where and how you want them". Well, I want them on tabs on the main dock. So there

Chances of that happening are slim I guess, or that's likely what they would've done in the first place. I can live with the wasted investment. Doesn't stop me from being a tad disappointed though. I so want to use it, but the way it's designed means I'd have to spread things around, or stick with only the tabbed dock. Which isn't what I bought it for. Pity the free version wasn't a time limited full version that got crippled after a while instead.

Mascot,

Let's go back a step and try to see what OD+ isn't doing that you want it to.
This post was started because thebachelor wanted the icon effects from the normal docks to be in the tabbed.  Those features were the rock, swing, and magnify I assume.

OD has Tabbed docks that can have as many different tabs as you want or Normal docks that can have links, docklets, running tasks, or systray.

What exactly is missing?  Stardock has a very good history of taking user issues and implementing them.  Let's see what you've got.  (and if it's tabs on a normal dock with all the eye-candy, I think the dev has stated in another thread that it's possible for a later build).

The very short version: Have tabs to switch between multiple docks.

The longer version:

Sorry, my bad. I should've done that at the get go. I was going to make my own post asking if what I wished for was possible, but then I got sidetracked by this one. Tabbed docks not having the eyecandy, and the main dock not having tabs, are two sides of a coin to me.

When I tested the free version, I loved the Dock. And by that I mean placing just the applications I need there, the eyecandy, and the docklets. With systray and running application support, it seemed to have everything I needed to get rid of the taskbar. I just needed a way to organize it a bit. 20+ systray icons did not make for a very clean looking dock, to say the least.

So, for my use, I only have one critical item.

- Multiple tabs/labels to switch the content in the dock so I can sort things into categories. In my case, I'd certainly have a separate tab for systray icons, possibly one for listing running programs (at home I think I'd place them alongside other items, at work I'd need a separate one due to amount), and 1-3 with applications and docklets on them.

As for an item more in the "handy" category. Ideally the systray icons would be handled more like the taskbar does. Showing only the ones marked "show always", and a button to show the "hide always" ones when needed.

I'm quite happy with the fact both systray icons and running applications are handled. I just don't want to use the tabbed dock. I want to remove my taskbar and have everything I need in one place. And I want to use the dock, not the tabbed dock.


There's hope!

Now I'm more confused.

You want "Multiple tabs/labels to switch the content in the dock so I can sort things into categories."

But you  ". . . just don't want to use the tabbed dock."

I'm not following (and I really am sorry).

Below is a screenshot of a dock similar to mine.  It has a tabbed and normal dock.  But it doesn't have to have either and the normal dock items could be in a tab on the bottom.



What features of the tabbed dock don't you want or what features of the normal dock do you want?  Because, again, the only thing that the tabbed dock doesn't support (I think) is the magnification and the mouseover effects, right?  Is that it?

I'll try to explain. If I fail at that once more, I'll add screenshots. Approaching midnight though so that'll have to be tomorrow.

When you mouseover items in the normal dock, you get magnification of the icon under the mouse as well as the icons near it, creating a sort of wave motion as you move along. Also the dock itself dynamically resizes itself to account for the space required by the magnified icons.

The tabbed docks, by comparison, are pretty static and utilitarian things.

You summarized it at the end of your previous post really. What I want is tabs on a dock that has all the eyecandy of the normal dock. Which, if you remember correctly, might happen in the future.

By the way, for tabbed and zoomed docks you can use the "animated shortcut" to add even fancier effects that the ones you see here. If you're an animator, it's way fun, but even if you aren't there are TONS of them online here (just search the gallery for "animated"). And I can confirm they work even better under vista than xp (had some gdi issues with a score of them going hehe).

I hope this helps you pizzazz things up.

OK, I got it.  Sorry I was so slow.
I'm not sure that the eye-candy limits the "functionality" so that you have a "wasted investment" but that's an opinion I cannot judge.

Thanks for clearing it up for me.  I wish I could give you a definite that the effects will be in the tabbed docks and when. 

20 systray icons ???

The wasted investment comes from me not being able to use it as I intended. Remember, the functionality I (thought) I paid for was to tab enable the normal dock. If you just blindly accept that the tabbed dock holds no interest for me, that lack of feature makes it a pointless product to me. I can't gather everything I need on the normal dock and remove the taskbar.

Or, to put it another way, if it had ONLY the tabbed docks, I would've just stuck with my custom quick launch menus instead of buying.

Like I handed my car off for some extra horsepower chipping, and got it back unmodified but with an extra tiny car on the side. I didn't want an extra car, I wanted mine beefed up


There's a reason all but four of them are set "always hide". I still access several of the remainders from time to time though.

I got 19, but then it's a Toshiba laptop - lots are Toshiba-only related.

Just pedantic about knowing what's running.  

I think you're overstating it a bit.

Not having the eye-candy doesn't make the tabbed dock any less functional.

Of course, FWIW, I agree with those who said they prefer the tabbed dock without the eye-candy so I guess we'd have to agree to disagree on that.

I think it's unfair to blame Stardock if you didn't research your purchase a little better - you could've asked here beforehand and got a straight answer quite quickly. You bought a Beetle & expected to get a Porsche...

And I bet 10 of them are totally useless for You running all the time. I never get why laptop-manufactures have to start 20 tasks at startup, each with it's own systray-icon and only leaving half of the RAM free. The 1st task for me when installing a new machine for a customer or the company is to load up msconfig (or better install StartupCPL) and delete all that unneeded startup-crap...

Correct. It makes the normal dock less functional than what I expected. Which is what I said.


Not at all. I agree with the eyecandy not being forced upon those that do not wish it. I don't want the eyecandy introduced to the tabbed dock. I want tabs introduced to the normal dock. Or, for that matter, just a single dock type you can configure to suit your wishes whether you prefer one or the other type.


I tested the demo of the product. And read what the plus had. It says "tabbed docks". There was no reason to assume that meant "new dock type that can have tabs but does not otherwise resemble what's in the free version". Having said that, $20 isn't enough money for me to bother about. I haven't even contacted SD, and the only reason I keep replying here is to explain why I was disappointed. And it is, obviously, disappointing when you buy something you can't use as you assumed. But that's life. If SD releases an update that addresses this, great. If not, then that's fine too.

And, yes, it *is* my bad. I should've learned by now to test a pirated version before buying something based on a feature crippled demo. Though I really think not offering fully featured demos is a very nasty thing. SD should have a free version, and a demo version of plus. They're different products, as my misunderstanding demonstrates.


I think that's overstating things a bit. I expected exactly what I tested, just with tabs on the dock. I didn't expect a completely different product that offered something entirely different to what I tested. Ironically, that is to some extent what I got.

Let's not blow this all out of proportion. It's $20. Yes, I was disappointed, but I've made do with the task bar until now, I'm sure I'll still be able to get what I need done.