Workflow: OS X 10.5.2 Fixes Stacks!!!
Whatever kind of designer you are (be it web, print, 3D, multimedia, etc.), you most likely rely on quite a few different apps on a regular basis, and you’re always looking to improve your workflow efficiency. With the release of OS X 10.5, we were introduced to stacks. A feature that promised everyone a clutter-free desktop environment. I don’t know about everyone else, but I was more than dissatisfied with stacks. Good news folks. Apple released 10.5.2 today, and one of the fixes I was personally hoping for came true. Stacks have been beefed up, and we got our list view back! This really made my day. No more 3rd party apps like HierarchialDock to keep my desktop clean. Thanks for listening to us Apple!
Personally, I like to keep only the apps that I use on a somewhat daily basis in my Dock. The rest obviously reside in the Applications folder, and before 10.5.2, the Applications Stack left a lot to be desired. This update has fixed a lot of my complaints and now includes a Folder view (Shows the Folder instead of the annoying-ever-changing icon like before), List View (awesome), and more. Best of all, it eliminates 3rd party workarounds. Now if you need to use an app you haven’t used in a while, you don’t have to use finder to get there. Eliminating even a single click can add up over time, so I’m very happy with this workflow improvement. Hope you all like it too! Run that software update baby!
Related Posts:
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on Monday, February 11th, 2008 at 6:37 pm and is filed under OS X.
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Awesome. Stacks have regularly pissed me of ever since they have been introduced. I am downloading the update now.
Thanks for letting us know.
Update is downloading now…180mb. Got to be something good! Glad it is an actual update, not a patch like MS does.
this may sound like a silly question, but i am not on the up-and-up in the mac world :) even though i have a macbook. where do you go to get the update, and is it free?
@katrina: Yes, the update is free. The easiest way to get it is to go up to the Apple menu (blue apple in top left corner of screen) and choose “Software Update…” Then just follow the prompts.
The List view have a bug.. It don’t sort correctly. If you choose list view, the latest downloaded file comes at the very top of the stack, instead in the bottom, like “fan view” - that means more mouse moving.
Finally! This was one of my biggest complains about Leopard.
Esben, I too find this a bit annoying. However, if you got so much content in the folder that you need to scroll, it would be a pain to have it at the bottom. The best would be to have an option for reversed sorting.
The original stacks implementation would have been nice if it was an additional feature, but Apple decided to discontinue the list view. Now it’s back, at last.
Now I wish for the next update to support the old dock’s look instead of the shiny-reflective-can’t-tell-which-app-is-running thing. Or at least the old look in a polished new way.
Panagiotis@ there are some ways to change the dock from a 3D look. I personally can’t stand the 3D dock
Take a look right here: http://macosxtips.co.uk/index_files/terminal-commands-for-hidden-settings-in-leopard.html
Christofer: Yeah I agree… more options, but still I can’t use it the list view, since it reverses the “latest download”.
i didn’t realley know that apple has released something, but today i played around with my dock und get satifisied :-)
I’ve been using my Dock on the side (same as your screenshots) for a while now as I find the space it takes up when auto hidden is less than when it’s along the bottom.
Do you know what I mean? If you have the dock auto hide, and you set a window to fill the entire screen, there’s still a tiny little lip between the edge of the window and the edge of the screen where the dock is. When it’s on the bottom of the screen, it takes up more space because of the aspect ratio on a wide screen.
It always disappointed me that the wall Dock (if that’s a fair name?) didn’t have the same stack and display features as the one on the bottom. No fan stacks, and no 3D Dock. It’s good that we finally have the list view, and I’m most pleased about being able to display the stacks as their folder icons now.
But I’m a little sad about the “Adjusts menus to be slightly-less translucent overall” change. I had absolutely no problems with menu translucency, and now it’s pretty much opaque. Lost some of its pretty, in my opinion!
And that Opaque menu bar option came at a point after I think a lot of us already got used to the transparent one we were stuck with. Oh well!
i’m not sure i know what this “stacks” feature that supposedly got better is?
@Esben,
You can select “sort by: Name” to fix that.
@Bitt
I know, but I doesn’t fix my download folder, since I want the latest downloaded item to be at the bottom of the stack, when you hit the icon. This can only be done in “fan view”. List view on the other hand is really great for the application folder.