I apologize. I don't know the proper term to refer to the square balloons that pop up after a couple of hundred milliseconds of hovering over a dock entry and which contain the details of the dock entry.

Is there any way to stop them from popping up, please?

Thanks,

I honestly can't remember if that was ever implemented. I remember there was some discussion about adding such an option, but I can't seem to find it now.
Maybe someone else remembers?

it was. i have no popups at all for winstep. however going through the preferences for both nextstart and workshelf i'm not seeing where i turned the balloons off.

Yes you can, at WorkShelf Preferences, tab General, click button 'More Options', and at Behavior select what you want.

Solved. Thank you very much. I drilled down and found it.