The Big Noob

I like my dock on the left. I think I do this because the display is widescreen so I feel like I have extra X space to spare.

I'm a dock on the bottom kind of guy. While it cuts into my height real estate, I actually wish I had more width for almost all my apps.

More width in Photoshop allows me to have more pallettes easily accessible while still allowing me to keep from having to left/right scroll on documents.

I also have a strong aversion to line wrapping when I'm working in Textmate. So the wider the window the less lines get wrapped.

@SIMMY: That's the ONLY thing keeping me from being a fan of the bottom (dock, that is). So much width, so little height.

@TEEVIO: Good call.

Bottom.

Without a doubt this is the only way I could manage. I tried moving to the side for a day and it felt like I was wearing pink panties all day. Very awkward. I also tried hiding it, but the amount of time it takes for it to pop up on rollovers needs to be adjustable before I could take that leap.

in the the bottom , in the middle, and big. thank you and goodnight.

Bottom. And I don't understand all the fuss about the new dock. I've seen people on websites teaching how to make it flat. I think that's absolutely ridiculous. The flat dock is horrible. This new dock takes time to absorb, it's true, but so did the first incarnation of MacOS X, and now we just can't live without it :o)

I'm a dock-on-the-side guy. Mostly hidden, out of the way, but I'll call it forth when I'm in need of some drag this on this kind of action.

I've always liked having the dock hidden on the bottom so I don't feel like I'm losing any kind of real estate. I like the 3D dock alright, but I do wish I had some options.

For years I kept it on the left, however now I keep it at the bottom. I've found that while it does take a bit more space when using dual monitors, it works a bit better with my workflow. I often use the dock to switch between programs and it's nice to keep it somewhat close. As well, I'm pretty sure it takes up less space in the way I arrange my workspaces on a one-screen configuration. I prefer having width more than I do height…

Couple that with the fact that Spaces gives me sooooo much more room to organize my workspace, etc and the dock makes even more sense to me at the bottom.

I'm a dock on the bottom, but hidden kind of guy. I find my unread count in Mail and NetNewsWire a distraction, so it's best for me to keep it hidden.

In Leopard, I've found myself switching back and forth between the 3D dock and the Terminal hack for the flat opaque dock, not sure which one I like more…

At the bottom, as small as possible for the same reasons as Teevio. I won't have my copy of Leopard until tomorrow though so I'm not sure if it will be harder to work with the new style at such a small size.

I've always been a bottom docker despite having the extra space with 23' monitor. At the same time, its good to know that we have the option.

I tried keeping the dock on either the right or left before, and I couldn't handle it. I usually leave the dock hidden, so I keep all of my real estate (yay for Quicksilver). I rarely need the dock, but it's there when I need it.

I keep my dock hidden on the bottom. I'm a grower not a shower.

Bottom.

Had it on either side for a while, but always got in the way when trying to use Photoshop. I never hide it as that annoys me too much.

Keep it on the bottom. When actaully doing work i keep the dock hidden so i do not get disctracted and so i have a little more room on screen for everything.

Bottom. Hidden. Only running and minimized windows populating it. End of story.

The only time I actually use the dock is to find a minimized window/PSD or to see what's in the trash. The rest is done with Command+tab and Quicksilver.

Don't worry, you'll get over your fears of the bottom and learn to love it. It really is better for everyone involved.

I've keep it at the bottom since day 1 with 10.0 for no other reason than having it on the side seemed really awkward. But I'm trying to change and so it's currently sitting on the left side in Leopard. We'll see how long that lasts.

Left, always.

I like it on the bottom, because I feel it is closer to get to from any part of the screen. Though I wish they took better advantage of all that lost space.

At the bottom!

The 3D Dock is of course one of those things you immediately hate from screenshots, but once you get used to i, its quite pleasant.

I agree that the extra X space would perfectly accommodate the dock, but after years of leaving it at the bottom any attempt to move it now results in such confusion… my brain can't take it.

I have always had my dock at the bottom (and hidden). In my opinion, the new 3D glass dock is janky. One of the first things I did was get rid of it.

Bottom and Hidden

Bottom and hidden. But that could change when I switch to a widescreen display :)

Right.

Vertical screen real estate is far more valuable than horizontal on a wide-screen display so an 'on the side' dock makes the most sense.

I chose the right over the left because I use a Wacom tablet and sweeping my curser to the right is more natural to me than sweeping to the left.

I use Quicksilver or command+tab for most anything I'd need to launch from the dock (key commands for the win), but my little-used docking friend sits on the bottom, hidden, shamed, but slightly large so as to compensate.

The downward mouse motion to get to the dock on the bottom is always less the than right or left motion to get to the side dock, so it feels faster to me. (Though the rollover lag-time on the hidden dock is mildly annoying.)

I try the side dock once a quarter or so — it feels like a ton (2000lbs.) of wasted mouse movement to me, so I can never get comfortable with it. I'd rather waste the X height and gain speed and efficiency.

And avoid Carpal Tunnel.

I'm in the hidden at the bottom with a hint of quicksilver crowd!

I'm a left-sider as well, but I run two widescreens (the iMac and a 20" to the left). It only makes sense for me to have it on the left (of the second display) since there's so much horizontal space.

the bottom, small, and always up with a little tiny bit of magnification.

Hidden on the left. I'm with Blankenship on Quicksilver and command+tab. But no matter where I have it, it's always hidden…

Top-right. I use Cocktail (http://www.maintain.se/cocktail/) to tack it in place at the top of the right side of the screen instead of the middle. (I think this can also be done in the Terminal). That way your main apps never move, no matter how much other stuff you open — the dock just expands down the screen, leaving the main apps in place.

Bottom, small.

In keeping with gravity, my dock always lives on the bottom. Those of you that like it on the side probably think global warming doesn't exist, too.

Had it on the bottom a year or so ago. After going on a business trip and needing more vertical space on my laptop (I usually use an external monitor) I moved it to the left and it's been there ever since. It's also hidden to minimize icon notification distractions.

Docks to the right, hidden, and big. I wish the 'fan' works on the side dock, or the option to open the folder on single click, should be an option. Waiting for it to come back in point release. I'm going to download Quicksilver now.

Right. Visible. On my 15" PowerBook screen it's as big as it can be (with 21 icons ~ 32px) so the Finder icon is always at the top of the screen and the trash always at the bottom (kinda like back in the OS9 days). Magnification is set to be the same as the "default" size with all those icons, so there's no swishy movement until I start opening more apps & minimizing more windows. I really can't stand the new glassy bottom dock.

Right and hidden.

Hidden because I can, and right because I'm a right-hander with a widescreen Mac.

Bottom, as this feels more symmetrical than having it on the side.

Hidden, mostly because I don't feel the need to see it all the time.

• On the left • Hidden • None of that magnification bubble crap • Roughly 25 apps/servers/folders

Same as Rubin, but small.

I like mine hidden. with the magnification bubble crap thing.

Left and hidden… and filled with my morning line-up of apps (Firefox, iTunes, Adium, Mail, NetNewWire) and apps that I need on the dock for drag-n-drop goodness.

I've always been a bottom docker, not sure why. And hidden is nice, but then you don't see notifications like Mail, NetNewsWire and Adium present in the dock icon, so I rarely hide it. And I keep it small with some magnification to increase my window space.

Lastly, nothing in the dock that isn't running, except Mail (I like the American flag stamp icon I use), and the trash of course. Launching apps is what Quicksilver is for.

I keep it discrete. Bottom and Hidden please.

Switched to left last night.

So much widespace, it was weird at first but I am digging it.

Definitely a bottom guy. The only application that really prevents me from trying the sides is Photoshop, as I like my palettes to sort of come out from the edges of the screen like they do.

Bottom and hidden is the best, every time I go down for a program its like christmas all over again.

I've always had my dock on the left, but when I install Leopard, I think I'll switch to the bottom.

I like mine on the bottom, not hidden. It cuts into the height but I'll sacrifice it for the width since I have a little ol' 12" Powerbook. And it lets me have more palettes in Photoshop, like Teevio said.

See, I've always been a bottom dock guy, but now I think it actually looks better on the side. The faux 3-D, over-used reflections, and hard to see 'open' dots on the bottom all seem like bad design decisions. While you're getting used to it on the bottom, I'll be getting used to it on the side…

Bottom hidden…In fact why doesn't everyone hide their dock? What's the benefit of looking at the dock when it is only needed when needed?

Right side Here's why: I have a 24" main display and 20" aux display on the left. PS palettes take up the aux display except I leave the tool palette in upper right default (can't shake 15 years of habit) and Layers palette far right butting up to the Dock. I can always use more vertical space than horizontal, and mis-hits on the PS tool palette doesn't trigger the dock.

It just sits next the line up of drives on the desktop where all the important Finder-ish stuff goes on.

Bottom and hidden, as large as it will go. It's a habit at this point; I've tried it on the right and left but I don't like the way it obstructs the desktop on the right and obstructs maximized windows on the left. The bottom of the screen doesn't have any window controls (aside from the scaling triangle), so it rarely gets accidentally activated down there.

Gotta go bottom. Symmetry is my friend. I feel like my whole workspace is unbalanced with it on the sides.

I keep it up cause i love my icons but Quicksilver + application switcher i the way to go.

Left.showing You can check out a photo of it here.

I have the same icon formy address book as Brad had/has(?). I love that Lord of the Rings Icon site, and Optimus Prime is Documents on my dock.

On my iMac I like it on the left, while on this Powerbook it's at the bottom, but hidden.

Bottom hidden…. It seems to far to move my mouse across my dual screens to get to the left or right side. So for me on the bottom, hidden, and very very tiny.

I'm a bottom feeder. always have been. I'll always accidentally unhide the dock when its on the sides.

I found a little hack years ago that lets you pin the dock to a corner. I tend to use quicksilver to launch everything so only my running apps show up in the dock. It is pinned to the bottom/right because having it on the left made it a little too far to travel on my 30" monitor.

http://tim.oreilly.com/cs/user/view/cs_msg/25039

Another me-too for the “hidden on the bottom” variety of dock living. There's simply no other way, especially in Leopard. Plus, A MacBook's screen real estate isn't expansive enough to allow for the sacrifice of so many innocent little pixels.

I'm a "left-side-docker" as well. I really like how the new dock looks both on the bottom and the left side. The right side is just weird.

Bottom, hidden. Relatively small, little animation.

apple defaults, even if they hurt at first. apple knows.

Left!

I started out with OS X back in 2002 with it on the bottom, but moved it to the two years ago and have never looked back. Save that vertical screen space!

I prefer it being on the bottom. And as implied with previous comments, out of context this sounds loaded with innuendo.

Left Hidden width: 40px No Magnification

I'm a bottom man, myself. I work from a laptop and have an extra screen attached so I have all the space I need. The dock never gets in the way, to be honest.

I'm a bottom docker, so the switch to Leopard wasn't that bad. I don't hide it because I think the Mac Book Pro has plenty of screen room and I think the 3D dock is nice looking. Also, the stacks have pretty much revolutionized my docking experience. Just when I thought it couldn't get any better…

I like it bottom and hidden. On my 24" i actually use full screen for browsing and never see my desktop nor the doc (unless some application stops responding) as I use quicksilver for most of the "dock actions".

Left. The 2D dock in Leopard has grown on me; the dark background definitely makes the icons pop.

Call me conventional, but my dock is always bottom and not hidden… though I do shrink it down as much as possible so it's as unobtrusive as possible.

Bottom, visible, down-sized, with a hint of magnification. I love the new dock despite its' (alleged) out-'o-place-ed-ness.

gotta be the bottom man. I'm a man of tradition. You can thank that damned Fiddler on the Roof for that.

Bottom. Auto-hide. Don't see the ugly thing, doesn't take space. I use Spotlight (formerly quicksilver) to launch apps and witch to switch between windows. I don't think I'd even realise if the doc weren't there at all.

Bottom and hidden. I need the biggest space possible.

Bottom, displayed and without that crazy 3D sheet of glass and drop-shadow fest.

the bottom, naturally.

Bottom

I was a left-side docker for years, but when I started using multiple-display setups I found that the left side dock wasn't always useful as it would often end up on the wrong display. I switched to bottom docking (auto-hidden naturally) and haven't looked back. (Of course, as a QuickSilver user my dock interactions are becoming less and less frequent.)

Left and hidden, but as big as possible.

Right side, hidden.

If I could be entirely rid of the doc I would… unfortunately I'll have to settle for hiding it. So I hide the doc and use an app launcher / file manager of sorts called OverFlow by Stunt Software.

http://www.stuntsoftware.com/Overflow/

That replaces the doc for me… and I haven't seen a need quicksilver since I can launch apps from spotlight now just by typing their name. I understand quicksilver does much more, but this is what works for me. YMMV.

Bottom.

I've used just about every combination there is though (sides, end, beginning, bottom, et al.). I think I've landed on the bottom for the same reasons Teevio mentions: It's just too nice to have the horizontal real estate for Photoshop palettes.

Bottom, hidden, as large as possible. (Tiger)

Don't know about Leopard yet…

bottom. hidden.

Not sure what I think of the new dock yet, but the "open app" indicator (if you can call it that) on the 3D version is really weak. Thank goodness for cmd-tab or I wouldn't know what I have open…

It's bottom, and with this: Black Dock

I'm more of a bottom and tiny kind of guy… errr I mean… we are talking dOcks here right?… aw… yeah… docks.

I believe I am one of the 4 people out of 88 who like it on the right side. Weird. Also it must be hidden! It just feels awkward traveling all the way across to the left side of my display. Also I keep my Adium on the left side hidden and have it reveal itself much like another dock. I'm a minimalist.

Located at the bottom, hidden, and as small as I can get it without squinting

The bottom, please. I wouldn't have my Mac any other way.

Left and hidden on my MacBook. I would probably have it on the bottom if I had a bigger monitor.

Pinned to the bottom right. Hidden. Love it there.

Well since my first 10.0 system on my old iBook G4 I've been a firm right-sider, hidden but large-ish.

This was mainly because keeping the trash in the bottom right made me feel warm and safe in a new place after the old G3 tower on system 9.

Further, I've always found having it next to the drives on my desktop natural and convenient, personally.

Since Leopard the dock has been the bane of my life. Why can't I have it on the right AND keep the fan and functionality of the stacks? Also, why the unsightly (and un-Apple in my humble opinion) grey background while on the side? I've had to keep the thing hidden on the bottom until I get round to finding an alternative…

T.

Ok – I just got my very frist MAC! Since it came from the factory in 3D and at the bottom, I just kept it that way since I don't know any other way. Keep in mind I never used a mac before (always windows) but my job field encourages Macs and I got sick of being the odd man out…..