I was reading the comments at Wincustomize on the Objectdockplus announcement. Many people were raving about a bar, with only tabs showing, that stayed on top until it was moused over, and then expanded to show the programs associated with the tab. OK it scrolls and has 'Flyout Menus' but I don't get it. I have been using Workshelf like that since the day I bought it and the newest version just improved it. What do other folks think?

- MichaelO

Why don't you ask this question at Wincustomize?

I've used both. While in a screenshot there may be some similarities, in usage they are quite different.

Yes, and ObjectDock Plus is really more of a "DragThing for Mac" inspired jobby than something like WorkShelf. Either way, OD+ isn't doing anything new.

I wouldn't say it doesn't do anything new. It's definitely evolutionary.

But often times it's those "little things" that make the difference.

Consider:

1) ObjectDock lets you have a tab for your system tray items and includes the ability to replace those system tray icons. That's a pretty significant new things.

2) ObjectDock has task grouping. This may seem trivial but a lot of people consider that a very important thing these days. Afterall, if someone is going to manage their tasks from an alternative to the Start bar, it has to be able to offer the same sorts of things.

3) The fly-out menus are implemented in a pretty unique way I think you'd agree.

4) A ton of little touches. Example, being able to just drag it to the edge of a screen and have the tabs re-align and it dock there is pretty slick. The ease of moving things around from dock to dock or tab to tab. The ease in which you can replace the icons for what's on the tabs. The ease of changing colors, tab sizes, etc. As "bullet items" they're not new, but often times, implementation is half the battle.

When a user tries out Workshelf, probably one of the first things going against it is that Next-style configuration that, by today's standard, seems very foreign. Just migrating the various Winstep controls to standard Win9x controls would be a big help I think.

I suppose evolutionary is an 'ok' description - especially considering what's been available on Windows. I just haven't seen anything that made me say "ooh, wow". I've been waiting for a decent Dock app for windows for years and years... (ahem...)

For me, a person who loves Shelves and Docks, I guess I find it kind of depressing that the best Dock I ever used was the Dock/Fiend.App combo on NeXTSTEP. There was such promise there. The Dock in OS X is lackluster in comparison. I thought we'd be further along than this by now. Oh well, it's my own fault for never learning how to do programming. I need to find another programmer who's ear I can bend.

...but, yeah, I will say that OD+ is the best dock for Windows right now by far.




I guess I don't see it as significant... this isn't much different than the Tasks tab in WorkShelf (and I think Tab LaunchPad has one, as well, doesn't it?) with regards to the method of functionality... the problem with both, however, is that they're not immediately convenient to get to/away from quickly, which is why I don't use the tasks tab in either one.





Important, yes, but the idea is not new...



Yes, I'll agree on that one! I haven't really had a chance to "live with them long term" to know if I like the method yet, though.



Heh.... I often think that implementation is MORE than half the battle. :p



I, personally, think that while the controls should be updated it's only because Winstep drifted away from the "WorkSpace Manager" idea of desktop-wide integration, though, who knows what Jorge might have planned but Jorge himself. It's been around 3 years since I was involved behind the scenes (geez, I can't believe it's been that long ).