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17 Apr 09 XWindows Dock: New Kid on the Dock

Windows and Mac have always been on the two opposite sides of the digital divide, but thankfully there are some tiny software packages that are working towards bridging this divide by making the appearance of windows look as good as the appearance of Mac. Basic architecture of the platforms cannot be altered much but attempts are being made to at least make our Windows look like their Mac. Along with different kinds of docking applications like, Rocket dock, circle dock, RK Launcher, and object dock etc., there are some tiny applications like, winflip, YzShadow, DExposeE, etc., in the league to provide the Windows users with the cool features that Mac users flaunt.

Bridging the visual divide between Windows and Mac, the new kid on the block is XWindows Dock that has some additional cool features like adding galleries, inbuilt stacking features, which originally was missing from other dock applications. XWindows dock application can stand firm on its claim of being a full-featured OSX dock clone.

XWindows dock comes loaded with eye catching features like icon reflections, scrollable galleries, and skin-able appearances. The visual appearance of XWindows is fully customizable; you can change the opacity, spacing, icon size, speed, reflections, shadows, blur, zoom level, transparency, and transition etc. In short, you can customize the entire look and feel of XWindows dock that too with a greater precision. This dock application provides native support to PNG icons as well.

There is one small feature, which you will find missing. Unlike other dock applications, you cannot just drag and drop your favourite software to create a shortcut in this dock, you will have to navigate through the menu bar and search the executable applications that you want to run. There is one more feature that I find missing is the capability to hide the task bar as we can do with RKLauncher. Personally, I am big fan of this feature, which is missing from almost all free dock applications except RK Launcher.

In my test, I found XWindows dock to be very sluggish in response. In my view, this dock has nothing new to offer. Indeed, the built-in stacking feature is a good addition, but this cannot be enough, at least, for me to leave the dock applications that I am currently using. Personally, I prefer RK launcher and Rocket dock over others. This new application is completely free, so you can give it a shot and decide for yourself.

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