Ars has an article discussing the Dock alternatives for everyone who is not happy with the default OS X dock. Even if you are comfortable with the dock you should go checkout the article just to see if there might be something better out there.
There’s a camp of Mac users out there (and I’m not saying I’m one of them, mind you, just that I’ve heard they’re out there) who – insert gasp and shocked look here – don’t much care for the Dock in OS X. They feel that its scope isn’t broad enough to make launching any-and-everything you might want at a moment’s notice not only possible, but truly easy.
The list includes:
- Dock-It
- DragStrip
- DragThing
- DropDrawers
- Butlet
- LaunchBar
- Quicksilver
I love the Dock, but I use Quicksilver and consider it one of the sweetest of any on the list. Some of the apps I wouldn’t consider replacements for the Dock, but enhancements. My Dock is slim, just a few apps that I use often and I use Quicksilver to access everything else.
I have Expose configured to my middle mouse button, so I’ve remapped F13 to quickly access Quicksilver. I can start a program as fast as I can hit F13 and type a few characters of the app, much faster than navigating some launch menu and I keep my Dock slim and neat.
Wicky