Mac OS® X Snow Leopard™ for Dummies®

Chapter 4. What's Up, Dock?

In This Chapter

• Getting to know the Dock

• Discovering the default Dock icons

• Talkin' Trash

• Delving into Dock customization

• Adjusting Dock preferences

Take a minute to look at the row of icons at the bottom of your display. That row, good friend, is the Dock (shown in Figure 4-1), and those individual pictures are known as icons (which I discuss in greater detail momentarily).

Figure 4-1. The Dock and all its default icons.

Tip

Dock icons are odd ducks — you activate one with a single click. Most other icons are selected (highlighted) when you single-click and are opened when you double-click. So Dock icons are kind of like links on a Web page — you need only a single click to open them.

A Quick Introduction to Using the Dock

Single-click a Dock icon to open the item it represents:

• If the item is an application, the application opens and becomes active. If the application is already open, it becomes active, which brings it and all its windows to the front.

• If the item is a document, that document opens in its appropriate application, which becomes the active application. If that application is already open, it becomes the active application with this document in the front.

• If the item is a folder icon, a menu with its contents appears and the Finder becomes the active application. If you select Show in Finder from this menu the folder's window opens in the Finder.

Note ...