Slashdot Mirror

There are lots of alternatives.

Start Menus:
Classic Shell
Pokki
Power8
RetroUI
Start8
StartMenu8
Start Menu X
ViStart
Win8StartButton

Launchers:
7stacks
8start Launcher
Appetizer
Blaze
Executor
Fences
Find and Run Robot
Key Launch
Launchy
ObjectDock
Rainmeter
RK Launcher
RocketDock
SliderDock
ViPad
Winstep Nexus
XWindows Dock

Take your pick. This is just a small list. I know there are many more out there.

This is extra text because Slashdot is lame and says my comment has too few characters per line:

A computer program (also software, or just a program) is a sequence of instructions written to perform a specified task with a computer.[1] A computer requires programs to function, typically executing the program's instructions in a central processor.[2] The program has an executable form that the computer can use directly to execute the instructions. The same program in its human-readable source code form, from which executable programs are derived (e.g., compiled), enables a programmer to study and develop its algorithms.

Computer source code is often written by computer programmers. Source code is written in a programming language that usually follows one of two main paradigms: imperative or declarative programming. Source code may be converted into an executable file (sometimes called an executable program or a binary) by a compiler and later executed by a central processing unit. Alternatively, computer programs may be executed with the aid of an interpreter, or may be embedded directly into hardware.

Computer programs may be categorized along functional lines: system software and application software. Two or more computer programs may run simultaneously on one computer, a process known as multitasking.

Ya know, maybe someone that has kept up with the Ubuntu forums can explain that to me, because i just don't get it. I mean every damned thing I see nowadays is widescreen, so why put the fricking bar vertical? Now don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against dock style launchers, in fact on all my Windows machines i have Rocketdock set to autohide at the bottom of my desktop with about 15 programs and folders so I DO get docks, i just don't get WTF they were thinking by making it ONLY vertical.

are needed to overcome the deficiencies in Window 7 task starting. I use the Start button to open infrequently used programs or Control Panel. I only pin Windows Explorer (which I use heavily). All other common apps go to RocketDock. I keep the desktop clean.

I use 7 Taskbar Tweaker because the default unchangeable behavior of the taskbar insists on grouping icons for the same app together. I want them in the order opened. For example I may have 4 notepad windows open. I don't want them stacked and I don't necessarily want them all grouped together. Only 7TT (or similar 3rd-party products) seem to allow this.

RocketDock

7 Taskbar Tweaker

Dude, you never heard of Rocketdock? It even lets you minimize apps to the dock. Great app if you want a nice dock on older version of Windows, low resource and they even have an OSX looking theme built in if you want the whole Apple look. Really nice and free to boot. Not sure if it works on Win7 or not, but since it works on Vista it probably does. Give it a try, it might be what you are looking for.

I haven't tried 7, but at least from what I hear it does have two features that interest me: minimize other windows by shaking the one I'm using ("aero shake") and making items on the taskbar appear as icons instead of as an icon and a text description.

Aero Shake in XP withAutoHotkey

To only show icons in the taskbar open regedit and go to

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics

In right-side pane, change value of MinWidth to -300 and reboot, you may have to tweak the number a bit but -300 works great on my system.
I know this works in XP, I haven't tested it in Vista.

Also to get rid of the start menu I use RocketDock for a MacOS like dock and Launchy to pop up an enhanced Run dialog (and I mean really enhanced). Some people prefer Executor

Also I've tried off and on for years to use only Linux but I've become so proficient with XP that I after a while I get frustrated with not being quite as productive. So until I can force myself to get better at using Linux than I am at Windows I'll continue using Linux as a secondary OS. I'm not flaming Linux by any means, I've just gotten too used to my setup in XP and the tons of modifications I've made to it that it's difficult to give it up and invest the time to match it in some sense with Linux.

I personally think that this is just a good example of how patents and copyrights passed the offramp to sanity a few miles back. You have MSFT patenting the double click(or as my home users call it "Clicky Clicky") you have Amazon patenting the single click,and now Apple has jumped on the crazy train. It has already gotten to be a minefield when it comes to patents and copyrights and I don't think anyone in their right mind would say that either promotes the arts and encourages innovation. What we need is serious reform or the USA is going to be left out of the 21st century as all the innovation goes to countries that don't have the minefields of patents and copyrights to navigate.

And for those on Windows who wouldn't mind a quick,easy,low resource dock of their own I'd suggest they snatch a copy of Rocketdock before Apple ends up killing it over this patent. They have plenty of addons and icons and skins to customize it your way and it runs really nice.

I personally think that this is just a good example of how patents and copyrights passed the offramp to sanity a few miles back. You have MSFT patenting the double click(or as my home users call it "Clicky Clicky") you have Amazon patenting the single click,and now Apple has jumped on the crazy train. It has already gotten to be a minefield when it comes to patents and copyrights and I don't think anyone in their right mind would say that either promotes the arts and encourages innovation. What we need is serious reform or the USA is going to be left out of the 21st century as all the innovation goes to countries that don't have the minefields of patents and copyrights to navigate.

And for those on Windows who wouldn't mind a quick,easy,low resource dock of their own I'd suggest they snatch a copy of Rocketdock before Apple ends up killing it over this patent. They have plenty of addons and icons and skins to customize it your way and it runs really nice.

http://rocketdock.com/

It's not perfect (layering issues, amongst other things), but it's good enough for me. Nice to have an empty desktop for a change.

Unfortunately many Windows apps expect the taskbar to be at the bottom and will open (depending on prefs) either under the taskbar so they can't be dragged away or over the taskbar obscuring it.

You should give RocketDock a try - I had similar issues and now I use this to launch all my apps. Simple to config and use, it can sit at the top of the screen, and can auto hide/unhide. I use it on my desktop and laptop both, and now I find that I hardly ever need to navigate to the start menu. Very nice and low cost (free), its a great app.

Man I don't get this. If there is one thing I truely hate about having to use Windows XP at work it is that I DONT have the dock and expose.

Give RocketDock a try then. You can configure it to work just like the OS X Dock (with a few exceptions). Unfortunately windows maximize over it, but if you don't do much maximizing it might work well for you.

I don't know of any Expose replacements. I use TaskSwitchXP, but its nowhere near Expose. But personally I don't like Expose and don't use it on my Mac (except for the rare occasion). I use the Dock and hiding to switch and hide apps (I think minimize is useless most of the time). Then alt-` to switch between application windows (or the Window menu).