A-Dock for Mac1.5.6

A-Dock was SO cool. There ought to be a law.

A-Dock no longer works under MacOS X 10.9 so I guess the party is over. Very sad as this is the program that helped me make the transition from Mac OS 9 to Mac OS X.

Hi my registered copy has weirdly started demanding a password, and won't accept mine. I went to the developers site, and when I clicked on purchase I got this at Kagi: “All our products have been discontinued. You cannot buy them anymore. Free versions should be available shortly.“ Obviously I'm keen to get the free one to replace my paid for one that thinks it is a demo - preference issue I guess - tried to repair prefs - same prob. Can anyone help?

For what it's worth, A-Dock v1.5.6 works perfectly with the OS X Mountain Lion golden master.

How to fix if using 10.7.3: I went into Home > Library (it's Hidden in Lion so you have to use the Go to Folder from the Finder's Go menu and put in ~/Library/). Open Preferences. In the search bar of the window, enter adock, and choose name when it pops up. Delete any files with adock in it in the search results (I had three and one of the files had zero bytes). Empty your trashcan. Start A-Dock and it works again. It even has a trashcan at the bottom of the Dock. As others have noted, in the preferences, don't turn on 'Show Trashcan on the Desktop' in A-Dock's preferences. Survived a restart as well. Customized my settings and all is well in the universe. :) Goodbye Dragthing, hello A-Dock!

Well, I'm here to say that after updating to 10.7.3, a-dock still doesn't work. I really hope the developer fixes the program as I'm left with dragthing which is overkill for my needs.

I miss A-Dock. It's useful and colorful. I wish it could be updated for Lion.

After updating to Lion 10.7.2, A-Dock no longer works. That's too bad. I find this to be a very useful utility.

A Dock out Docks Mac's dock...so dock u rip off dockware that only pretends to do what A dock does. It should be called A+ dock because that's the grade I give it. Seriously though, if you want an actual second dock, fully customizable, with every feature of mac's default and then some, and especially NO BLOATING UR SYSTEM, then the 10 bucks is worth it. As a fair disclaimer to the developer, it could use a grid feature for stacks . I'm no critic and don't want to bite the hand that fed, but I do have ADHD and readling from the hierarchical (unless u can make it with big icons and space) is a pain. I'm not saying everyone else will have this trouble, but everyone else could benefit from the choice to switch to grid. As, minor stability issues with dragging documents into the icons i.e. folders. I guess that relates to modules, where you can only show volumes and ur trash in that seperate part of the dock, maybe every part of the dock should be like that. Get it. Forget the rest...unless its dragthing (Kagi plug=Props to KAGI and Jerome)

Thanks for the Snow Leopard tweaks! A-Dock X is one of my all-time favorite utilities...I use it dozens of times a day and it saves me so much time and effort. One of my favorite features is being able to type command-option-h to reveal the desktop while I'm in any program, and then hit it again to pop back to that program. Such a huge time-saver and more useful to me most of the the time than the Expose F11 reveal desktop. Great, great program at a great price.

I finally got around to playing with this and opted to buy it. Apple's dock stinks, mostly because it needs better (or any) customization options. In particular, I like that with A-Dock, I can have a transparent dock background if I wish; and I like the ability to pick and choose what actually shows up in the dock. The only other programs that came close to doing what A-Dock does are DragThing and WorkStrip. The latter is no longer supported and doesn't really play well with Leopard. (It tends to make my windows jerk a lot when resizing them, and I've found that once I use the program, then the window resizing is bad thereafter no matter what I do.) I think DragThing is an awesome program, but I really wanted it only for the ability to show open windows in a dock. Unfortunately, it does not always do this properly, particularly with iTunes and NeoOffice. A-Dock does allow me to select open windows via right-clicking on the dock icon, but I would prefer the ability to actually see open window icons in the dock and select them directly that way. I doubt that A-Dock will ever do this, but it is a feature I'd like. Overall, the program is stable and has some good customization options.

Okay, I tried it again a few hours later, and it downloaded decently. Must have been a glitch.

I would be happy to try this if it weren't taking 6 months to download the thing. I've been waiting over 20 min., and it's barely halfway done. I've tried downloading from MU and from the developer's site. Both are giving me the same results. Not having this problem with anything else, so I'm assuming it's something on their end.

Nice tool which does its job.

I've quickly become a fan of A-Dock. On the surface it doesn't look that much different from Apple's dock, but it offers many features sorely lacking therein. Some of its best attributes include: 1) You can add folders to it whose contents can be viewed hierarchically and dragged out of the menu (including smart folders). 2) It's far more customizable. You can tell it to show only favourites or tell it not to display individual running applications, so you don't have to have background apps that don't need to be displayed taking up screen space. It can also be freely positioned on the screen and its appearance can be altered with free themes. 3) You can select modules to add to the dock, including volumes and a System Preferences icon that expands into a hierarchical menu. 4) A-Dock can also display your trash (supports custom icons and can display the number of items within) on either the dock or the desktop and its contents can also be viewed in a hierarchical menu. There are numerous other little features in A-Dock, and as of 1.5.1, it's properly displaying all animated dock icons (though no bouncing). Perhaps its only real weak point is an inability to display minimized windows. In terms of support, A-Dock's developer is responsive and his website contains plenty of useful information. This app is well worth the $10.

Adding new favorites crashes and quits a-dock on 10.5.5 macbook 2,16ghz.

Wow! It is great to see that the author is still maintaining this. Downloading and firing up as we speak. Thank you for not abandoning the product.

A-Dock has some features (such as delayed-action activation) that the Apple Dock ought to have. But something important is missing. It ought to supply some instructions, or something like an Apple-Script, that would allow the user to turn off the Apple Dock. I have no idea how to do that, and I bet a lot of other users don't either. And yet if I am going to use A-Dock this is a very obvious need I'm going to have.

I started using A-Dock in OS 9, as soon as it was released. I reviewed it when I moved to OS X, remarking on how much I respect the developer for keeping this marvelous software alive and improving it every step of the way. As I was researching Leopard, one web site mentioned that A-Dock was a great replacement for the 3-D Apple Dock in 10.5. This was before this new version of A-Dock! Since then people have figured out how to mod the new dock to 2-D, but A-Dock is still a great alternative if you want the control-click expansion of docked folders, something I use all the time. It's flexible, it's fast, it's cheap. It's an essential part of my OS X experience and I find myself looking for it when I'm using other people's Macs. And no, I'm not in any way connected to the developer.

Great piece of software. I use it probably more often than Apple's dock because of its ability to contain folders. Very low CPU usage and no crashes are also definite pluses. Now it's even better with the ability to show System Prefs in the dock!

great program but i personally have two problems. Minimised apps don't shrink down to the A-Dock and we need more themes! Otherwise 8.5/10 !! :D

Isn't there some sort of preference pane? Or is that not available in the demo version?

Essential interface upgrade lacks support from developer. One major flaw is the use of the "Shift key" to move the dock. The Shift key is used by ASM as suppression key for special features: Single Application Mode, etc. Can't use A-Dock with this ASM feature since it A-Dock reserves the important Shift key for an unimportant function better served through the preferences. Who moves his dock often to justify the use of the shift key for this function??? If he would fix this, we could turn on Single Ap mode in ASM, and have the ability to automatically hide others when switching using A-Dock, with a simple override: Don't hide others when clicking in A-Dock with the shift key depressed. Fabulous. I have asked the developer to fix this for nine months. He just doesn't get it. I give him low marks.

You cant trash it can you? 1 dock is enough.

One thing that apple's dock really lacks: spring loaded folders! And I like how it shows track,artist,album for itunes, definitly more clear with icons.

Bread is better with butter. A-Dock is the butter. In my case, it improves my "Aqua" experience. Keep up the good work..brutha!

I think this is a splendid piece of Shareware, and I use it combination with Apple's dock. It has been intelligently developed & well supported. Along with Virtual Desktop, Windowshade, PopChar Pro and Path Finder it adds to the excellent Mac experience & has become indispensible.

Very usefull little application. A good complement to Apple's dock. I put in it my frequently used folders. Good support and good price.

I find this dock useless, Apple's is better. Plus it is slower.

Could you provide a more specific definition of "sucks?" I've been using A-Dock since OS 9 and it has never been anything but what it says it is: a useful, customizable second dock (or in the case of OS 9 a first dock). The developer has continuously updated, improved and maintained this product and has never charged an unreasonable fee for a really great addition to both of my computers.

Wow, it was great when it was freeware, now it sucks. I'm lucky to still have a freeware copy :D

Great app. This is the only one which offers me an Apple like dock on my second monitor. And it actually improves on the original. Very nice, and despite the odd crash (it's a beta so what you gonna do?) it doesn't do anything weird to my system. Super!

This is an unbelievably cool piece of software. Worthwhile for the pop-up folders alone: you can drag stuff from your desktop (or wherever) into your Documents folder (or wherever) in A-Dock, and the folder window pops up so you can place the file exactly where you want it, in whatever subfolder you want! This is how dock folders should behave in Apple's dock, but don't (yet).

Happy to see there is finaly a customizable dock that is ADDED to your desktop instead of having to switch. Only thing its missing is Magnification.

There are few apps that I use everyday. This is one of them. The app is easy to use and it serves it's function seamlessly. Store all of your frequently used applications to keep your original dock clear from clutter. Works almost the same as the finder's dock. Except it does not launch on startup. Is there an automatically launch on startup option? The only obstacle I encountered while using this app, is that I had to go back and read reviews to learn how to add icons to this alternate dock. If you have the same problem, press "shift", click and drag the app you would like to add to Adock. Thanks to the dev. for this great app

To bad I can't install themes. :(

hmm, looks good, but am i missing something ? how is it different from original osx dock?? application swithcher?? how.

Can't say enough good things about this app. Jerome has put a tremendous amount of time and effort into keeping A-Dock useful and viable when the advent of the dock in OS X would have seemingly rendered it obsolete. Makes a great supplemental launcher. I have used it since 2.0 (classic version) 4 years ago and gladly paid for it when it was shareware, and I still would. Many thanks.

Great launcher utility for the Mac. Like the ability to use the trash can on top of finder/apps. Thanks to keeping it freeware.

A-Dock is very easy to use ! To add an idtem, just drag and drop it with the shift key down. No need to do that by a boring editor or preference pane. (Some people need to read the Quick help file before complaining here) PS : We are waiting only one new feature : multi-dock

So... How *do* you add new favorite folders to ADock without editing the preferences file? I've been using Butler, and adding favorites through the configuration window is at least possible, though I'd rather drag and drop them into its docklet... and it has bags more features. But ADock *feels* more docklike. Now I'm torn. I guess I'll try both for a while.

I love it! Best of the freeware launchers, and better than many of the $$$ launchers. I love it! It really saves a lot of hassle. BTW, did I mention that I love it? ;-) Thanks to the developer.

To "replace" Apple Dock with A-Dock: First, strip off all icons off the Apple Dock. In the Preferences folder, find "com.apple.dock.plist". Find the key "" and set it to 1 or 0.1. Save the change and relaunch the Dock (or just log out and back in) and your Dock is only about 5mm square no matter how many icons are in there. Pin it to the top-right using TinkerTool and set it to the Hide mode. Apple Dock is now practically invisible and it won't show up at all. The hotspot is so thin between the Menu Bar and the Desktop that even if you happen to hit it it would be so small and you won't notice unless you look for it. Setting that up, use A-Dock as your replacement for the Dock. The only drawback is that minimized windows won't be in the A-Dock, but you can still access them via menu. All this without having to resort to patching the system.

Call me slow but I gave up testing this app. It refused to let me add a favorite to the dock even after countless variations of using the mouse and shift key. The app made up my mind for me right when I was getting frustrated wrestling with the popup menu while still trying to add a favorite, it crashed! Adios, A-Dock! iMac 800Mhz OS 10.3.3

suits me well, i now have a spot for some extra apps and have 2 docks. its nice for ejecting removable drives too.

I only downloaded this because I was desperate to have a skinned dock again, now that I use Panther which Skin-a-dock does not yet support. I was reluctant to use it because I love Apples' dock so much. I thought I'd miss stuff like magnification (call me shallow if you will), and I thought it a shame to have to use another application that does basically the same as Apples' built in dock. But now I have done it, I am very happy with it. I don't use any of the spring-loaded stuff or whatever, but my dock is now beautifully skinned, has a shadow, and a nice colour of "App running arrow" that I can actually see against my desktop. All I care about are the cosmetics of the thing, but the functionality is great too. It works just like it should, plus does more things that I will probably never use. Well worth your $7.

Question: Does a license for A-Dock carry over to A-Dock-X?

Is that Watanabi? or Wannabe? Drop the mega-‘tude, loser. I have “The Dock” stuck to the right corner of my screen for extra apps.... but it still pops up when you get too close & guess what?... there's no way to click and raise or lower it, or customize it much at all. And wasn't that the driving force behind every previous Mac OS, customize-ability???. The Dock's always there, or it's always popping up. Guess Apple found “up & down” buttons too hard to program. I have a 15” screen. I need all the real estate I can get. My opinion of the A-Dock is what it is, and I stand by every word. Let's try to leave the personally disparaging remarks out of software reviews, say whot, “little brain”? Five stars it was, and five stars it remains. If you want to suck up Apple's jive as is, and not demand they do better (Remember, they USED to BE better..... or were you in grade school back then?). Either way, you've defined yourself as a Windoz “follower drone type”. Hey that's cool. But A-Dock STILL Rocks.

Crikey! Looks like tom2323 is the developer's boyfriend. Tom, if you've such a problem with the OSX dock why not switch to Windows? It's the perfect OS for moaners like yourself. On the review front I must say it is a handy piece of software. Not indespensible but handy. I myself can live without it but nevertheless give it 3 stars.

A-dock was the first, & remains the best shareware app I've ever registered & paid for. I've used it on every possible rev of OS 9, & figured, as others here have said, that it might be superfluous in X. NOT! NOT! NOT! NOT! NOT! If anything, in OS X A-dock is an absolutely CRITICAL lifesaving necesssity. No question. Let's face it, “The Apple Dock” bites the large hairy hard one. It represents everything that Steve Jobs seems to be about these days... Max on the Glitz, with true Microsoftian disinterest in user functionality. “The Dock” is a pain in the butt to configure & is marginally useful. That's being kind. My wife (who can't figure out, & therefore hates all computers) thinks The Dock “looks cute”. Get the picture?. Try this. Buy this. Pay for this. $7 bucks? There are jerks out there asking $49.99 to $99.99 for “Stupidware”. This one's a no-brainer. A-dock remains at the number one spot on my list of shareware values (Windowshade is #2 though buggier). Look, You can add ANTHING to A-dock... a sound, a folder a file, an entire hard drive... This is one classy elegant, productive, constantly evolving STABLE piece of software. Try it, I think you'll end up banishing ”The Dock” where I now have it stuck.... on the side of the screen containing the few things I can't cram into A-dock..... & it still pisses me off when I run the curser too close, & it jumps happily out from the side of the screen.... just to annoy me. Go Jerome!!!!! Tom Perri

Not a bad little app. I may use it permanently. I find it funny to see how this 'True Review' guy expertly pushes everyone's buttons getting to react in such a way. He's got a point, but then that's also just his opinion. Like I said before - nice little app.

A-Dock, relatively to the Version Number, actually below 1.0, is quite stable. It rises my comfort and productivity more than other docks. I use it daily, holding a long line of small floating folders safely in place, each with a click unfolding into a hierarchical menu with submenus. It is usable like a row of directly accessible oldworld apple menus would be. - Whereas the Apple Dock folders always hop to a new place when something pops up. Configure it as an application switcher and as a harbour of windowshades. I'd prefer to have two differently configured A-docks instead.

Whiile Hector's comments were a bit inflammatory, his message hits the mark. A-Dock was invaluable to me when I was running OS 8.5 on my PowerMac 7100/66 and I still use it in Classic mode on my G3-450. The classic version is in many ways better than the OS-X Dock. "The True Review" missed only a few facts, all of which could have been gleaned from Download.cnet.com. Aside from a few problems with truth and accuracy, his review wasn't too far off. I suggest you omit his ratings, since he kneweth not of what he spake!

I love A-Dock. I used it in MacOS 9 and figured that when I upgraded to OSX eventually I wouldn't be using A-Dock any longer. I was wrong. A-Dock is what Apple's Dock should be. Not only that it is great having both of them. I configure A-Dock to have other things than the Dock and I use Xkeys in addition. Highly recommended.

What I hate about the dock is that when you have it hidden, if you graze the part of the screen where you hide it for a millisecond with your cursor it pops up. Which is a major distraction and annoyance. With A-Dock you can set the minimal time necessary for a pop-up, so that this doesn't happen. That's good. But it doesn't have a mechanism for telling you you have incoming mail waiting to be read. That's bad.

The Real Review listen up. I'm the poster of the Letter to the Developer. My name is Hector Cabarcas 330.492.8780 if you'd like to confirm it. You sir are an idiot in more ways than one. Let me list just two: 1) You're presumptuous in not only assuming the developer wrote the review but also in attaching motives to why he may have done so. 2) You're presumptuous but this time with a super dose of stupidity and ignorance. A-Dock was around long before OS X's introduction. Ask around. I, for one, ran the app in OS 8.5 if not earlier than that--making it at least 4 plus years ago. Boy you're stupid.

A great product to supplement OSX's Dock. Here is what I do: Pin OSX's Dock to the bottom right corner, and pin A-Dock to the bottom left corner. OSX's Dock only shows the currently running apps and the trash, while A-Dock shows all of my most used apps so I can launch them quickly. OSX's Dock doesn't allow for "muscle memory" since it is constantly moving as more applications are opened. A-Dock allows you to train your hand, wrist, and eye muscles to consistantly know where everything is all the time. A-Dock should be implemented into OSX. Awesome add-on!

Whoa!... Lookout!!!. people are starving to death. Why don't the both of you render each other down in to some kind of freeze dried meat product with which maybe, just maybe hunger gane be staved off?

Far too often developers write software that already exists. A-Dock is simply a copy of the OSX dock, the developer released it just after the first version of OSX hit the market. At the time it was a great application because it was and is still needed in OS9. Now had the developer had the insight to invent it a few years before then he would now be a millionaire. The problem with this application is that in it's transition to OSX it simply joins the lines of similar apps that do the same thing. OSX has too many Application Switchers already - and most of them free. However, Apple already HAS a dock - built into the operating system that works. Why would I need another?!? It will only 1) Cost me money & 2) Cost me valuable RAM & CPU. Looking at the "too-good-to-be-true" post below tells me that Jerome has used the usual tactic: Bring out an updated version on www.macupdate.com and immediately write yourself a glowing review and give yourself 5 gold stars to woo any potential idiot into buying the superfluous program that has no real use outside of OS9 and below. He has therefore given me no choice but to give it 1 star for each category.

This is a letter sent to the developer: On behalf of previous die-hard A-Dock users and those of us less than enthusiastic of Apple's dock, thanks a million for bringing us a true dock. I've bought numerous utilities since transitioning to X - all in the attempt to make my experience with the new OS more efficient. Also, I think the tinkerer in me just likes to try new things. But A-Dock satisfies both sides of me. It was the best app in the previous OS and has just found a permanent home today in the marvelous OS which is X. Best wishes on the implementation of the final features!