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I don’t want to get into too much detail on this, but something bad happened with my Windows 7 and Ubuntu wubi setup a few days ago. After fiddling around with the ATI driver on the Ubuntu side I rebooted back into Windows and promptly booted into the fabled Blue Screen of Death (BSOD). This was the second time I’ve experienced the BSOD, but lacking the patience to power through it I just wiped everything and did a fresh install of Arch Linux.
To simplify things, I removed the ATI graphics card first and chose to use the onboard NVIDIA graphics instead. The ATI card has been very nice on Windows but it gives me grief on Linux so I feel it’s better to just go with what works.
After getting everything setup to the way I normally have things I found myself playing with Gnome-Do. More specifically, I was looking at the different themes available and settling on what I thought looks best. This is how I accidentally stumbled on Docky.
Gnome-Do theme preferences
I’ve never chosen “Docky” before but in the back of my mind I have heard of it. This “accidental” discovery for me has proven to be the finest dock I’ve used on Linux.
My past experiences with screen docks has been slightly disappointing. Other docks I’ve used, such as AWN, have a nice look to them but their functionality left a little to be desired. My specific complaint with AWN was in how it would behave contrary to the preference settings I chose. For example, I like my docks to be out of view when not in use. Half of the time AWN would stay visible on the screen after I scrolled through the launchers and opened my desired program. In my opinion, once a dock has done it’s job it needs to auto-hide off my screen until I call it up again. I don’t want it sticking around past it’s welcoming period like my in-laws do.
I haven’t had this problem with Docky. This screen dock rapidly appears and disappears as needed and it has a nice look to go along with it! I don’t know what it is, but when certain small features of an app, such as “auto-hide” actually work it gets me excited. The responsiveness and ease of use makes Docky the best screen dock I’ve ever used. Here’s a quick screencast of Docky in action on my desktop:
The normal behavior of Gnome-Do is slightly changed by using the Docky theme. When summoning ‘Do you no longer see a pop-up window in the center of your screen; it now is situated exactly where the dock is. In retrospect, I think I prefer this location over the center as well.
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Gnome-Do’s Docky is easy to use, extremely responsive and does what it’s supposed to. For these reasons I rate Docky as the best screen dock on Linux and recommend it to anyone who prefers this kind of setup on their desktop.
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{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Hi there! Thank you so much for this great review. I’ve always loved Docky ever since the first I discovered it by accident lol. Same case as you I guess. I only hope that Docky will have more customizable theme. It’d be great to have something more than just a black skin