StarDock ObjectDock: An Effective Cure for Cluttered Desktop Syndrome Disaster Recovery for Your Desktop Interface Joseph Moran
Look at the monitor display of most PCs and what you'll see can often be best described as chaotic. After all, the typical desktop (including ours, and probably yours as well) is likely to contain dozens of icons – if not scores – comprising items such as Windows desktop items, application and document shortcuts, downloaded files, and so forth. While some may actually prefer operating in this kind of disordered and ad-hoc environment, for many it can be a subtle productivity drain as well as an aesthetic eyesore.
Those in the latter category will appreciate StarDock's ObjectDock utility, which can definitely be an effective cure for Cluttered Desktop Syndrome. ObjectDock really lets you clean up all that desktop detritus by organizing your myriad items into one or more customizable tabbed docks that keep all that stuff out of sight but yet still close at hand. ObjectDock can not only organize your shortcuts, it can also reduce or entirely eliminate the need for such mainstay Windows components as the Start menu, taskbar, and tray.
ObjectDock gives you a choice of two different dock styles. The Standard dock can be anchored to the top, bottom, left, or right of the screen and simply grows wider as more items are added to it. Alternatively, you can choose a tabbed dock style to place items in separate categories. This style has the added ability to be resized and float anywhere on the desktop. Both dock types can display myriad pieces of information, including application and document shortcuts, icons residing in the Windows Tray, and running applications a la the Taskbar.
When you mouse over a specific item in a dock, it's highlighted by a cool-looking zoom effect (one of several available). Since ObjectDock lets you create multiple instances of each kind of dock, you have a great deal of freedom to organize information the way you prefer. In fact, ObjectDock can render the Windows Tray and Taskbar superfluous and will even give you the option of hiding them to reclaim their space — with ObjectDock in place you probably won't miss them in the least. Application icons in a dock will glow when attention is required, just like they blink in the Taskbar.
The only caveat is that to display both Tray and Taskbar icons in the same dock you must use the tabbed variety, since doing so in a standard dock would cause it to be longer than a boa constrictor. (Our initial installation of ObjectDock wasn't able to display Tray icons correctly, but a patch cleared up the problem.)
Although ObjectDock certainly packs a great deal of information into a small space, it can also make use of real estate outside the limited confines of a dock. For example, adding a Start Menu dock entry will give you access to your entire Programs folder (which will expand as needed). Another option is to use ObjectDock's visually striking Flyout menus, which float a rotating series of icons right over the desktop. These Flyout menus are good for oft-used special Windows folders like My Computer, Network Connections, and Favorites.
