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One problem with the OS X Dock is that many users load it up with so many programs (or in my case just run so many programs simultaneously) that the icons shrink to the point that they are hard to see and difficult to manage. MultiDockX adreses this issue by creating multiple Dock files and loads them into the Dock application dynamically as the user needs. Therefore, a user can keep, say, graphics applications on one Dock called "Graphics" and all DTP applications on another called "DTP". This reduces the clutter and helps keep the dock from becoming overloaded. MultiDockX also allows the user to keep different preferences for different Docks. Thus if you have a "Graphics" Dock, you can set it to auto-hide in order to make more room for your work, but all the rest of your Docks will stay visible. Also, you can put one Dock on the left side of the screen, and another at the bottom, and each Dock will remember where it needs to display when it is loaded. The user can also include a particular application on more than one Dock at a time, so, for example, if you always want to have access to iTunes, you can keep it in all of your Docks. MultiDockX, which only allows you to have one Dock on screen at a time, requires less than 650k of disk space and runs inside 500k of memory. It also retains all the features of the Dock, which means there is no relearning, and the Dock will continue to function even if you quit MultiDockX or uninstall it. The first time you start MultiDockX, it will create a dock file called "Default" based on your current dock configuration and load it in. It will also place an "X" icon in the top of the menu bar for access to all of its commands, which are: About Simply displays a little blurb about the program. Add Dock… This option creates a new Dock configuration file. You will need to supply a name and decide whether you want the new Dock to inherit the settings of the current dock or to be created with the default settings. After you press "Return" or click "OK", the program creates the file, adds it to the MultiDockX menu, and then loads the new file in Edit Docks… opes a panel where you can edit the list of Docks. Dock Items... Each dock that you create will be listed in the MultiDockX menu. The currently active dock will have a check mark next to it. In order to switch to another dock, simply select its name from the menu. Preferences… Controls your personal preferences for MDX's behavior. You can enable/disable Simple Internet Version Control (SIVC), SimulDock (more below), and submenus. Register… If you have not registered MDX, this option will appear. It will enable you to enter your registration code, or link to the website if you need to purchase one. Quit This option quits the program. This will remove the MultiDockX menu from your system menu bar and will 
SimulDock ... when enabled, helps make MDX even more transparent. To enable this, go into Preferences and click the checkbox labeled "Enable Simultaneous Docks". This will activate the "Configure Simultaneous Docks" button. Click on that to bring up the setup window. On the right side are a list of the docks you have available. Drag these to the three spaces around the desktop depicted in the options screen. A Dock may only be used once, and not all of the spaces have to be filled. (Only 2) Once you set this up, slide your mouse all the way to one side of the Desktop where you currently don't have a Dock. If you setup a Dock to be activated on that edge, then the onscreen Dock should close and the new one should popup on the other side. You can configure the various Docks differently if you wish. MultiDockX works as advertised and is kinda cool.
System requirements:
MultiDockX is $3.00 shareware
For more information, visit:
Re: OS X Odyssey 372 - Why APE could be a bad thing? RE: Checking Out The Mozilla ThunderBird 0.1 Email Client From James Strickland I have been using Mozilla Thunderbird as my default email client for about a month now. It is very easy to convert your Mozilla Mail over to Thunderbird. When you first install Thunderbird, it will ask if you want to create a profile. Just cancel that. Go to the /user/library/thunderbird folder, and you will find a default profile folder. Copy the contents of your Mozilla Mail profile into this new profile. Open the Prefs.js file in a text editor and change all statements pointing to your Mozilla Mail profile to the path leading to your Thunderbird profile (make sure Thunderbird is closed when doing this or all changes will be erased). Open Thunderbird and all of your email, settings, and junk filters, will be intact. I do hope they come up with a better way of importing your profile as this procedure does have you bringing a lot of unnecessary Mozilla files into your Thunderbird profile. A note of caution for Mozilla Firebird users. There are still some issues between Mozilla Thunderbird and Mozilla Firebird. Firebird must be launched before Thunderbird for any html links in emails to work properly. Also, clicking on a mailto link in Firebird causes errors with Thunderbird. At the moment you have to ctrl click the mailto link, and choose copy email address. The folks at Mozilla have been thoroughly advised of this flaw by many users, and are hard at work fixing it. This only seems to be an issue between Thunderbird and Firebird. Mailto links work correctly with Thunderbird when using other browsers. Still, all in all, I thoroughly enjoy this email client. I agree with you that even in these early stages, Mozilla Thunderbird is a former competitor to other email clients available to either PC or Mac. Jim Strickland
Thanks Jim;
Your tips on how to import Mozilla Mail files to ThunderBird will be helpful to many.
Charles
Re: OS X Odyssey 372 - Why APE could be a bad thing? From Jonathan Tyzack Hi Charles, I believe that the objection that some have to the APE is that it is a rough equivalent of (enabling) extensions a la Classic OS. The APE itself is not necessarily the problem, it is the potential for badly written hacks to be introduced because of it that is the issue (with the concomitant problems that they may cause to the functioning of the system or of specific apps). I myself am a user of it for the benefit of gaining some menu extras that I want, but after the bad experience I and many others had of WindowShade X causing a dreadful hit on performance when Jaguar was first released, I am a somewhat reluctant one and now avoid as much of these APE-dependent hacks as I possibly can.
Cheers,
Hi Jonathan;
Thanks for the comments. I haven't noticed a performance hit from any version of WindowShade X (and I tried uninstalling it for three weeks a while back to see if that would speed the old Pismo up -- it didn't). However, I guess one's milage may vary.
However, trying to work without windowshading nearly drove me nuts. Minimizing to the Dock is, to say the least, a miserable substitute for windowshading, at least for folks like me who often have two dozen or so windows open and collapsed to their titlebars. Even if there were a performance hit, I would still use it.
Charles
The OS X Odyssey archives may be accessed here: Note: Letters to Moore's Mailbag may or may not be published at the editor's discretion. Correspondents' email addresses will NOT be published unless the correspondent specifically requests publication. Letters may be edited for length and/or context. Opinions expressed in postings to Moore's MailBag are those of the respective correspondents and not necessarily shared or endorsed by the Editor and/or Applelinks management. If you would prefer that your message not appear in Moore's Mailbag, we would still like to hear from you. Just clearly mark your message "NOT FOR PUBLICATION," and it will not be published. CM
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