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Gorgeous Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard Dock Replacement! [w/pics!]

insidemacgames.com — If you have Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard and dislike the look of the dock, but not enough to go all the way back to the old 2D configuration, you may want to check out this quick, clever tweak to the dock. This novice-grade hack makes the dock jet-black, highly reflective, and in most cases, much less obtrusive than Apple's variant.

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  • DaMacGamer, on 11/04/2007, -4/+11This looks great on dark backgrounds.
  • spargett, on 11/02/2007, -4/+5I saw a dock replacement somewhere, in which they used the dock that shows up on the sides as the dock for the center. Anyone know how to do that?
    • jk_baller23, on 11/02/2007, -1/+34Type in Terminal:

      defaults write com.apple.dock no-glass -boolean YES
      killall Dock

      Changing YES to NO will revert it back. There is also a program out that does the same thing but w/a GUI, but the name isn't coming to me.
      • spargett, on 11/03/2007, -4/+8Thanks man! You rock.

        Now if it were only that easy to turn off stacks too!
        • MonkeyFarts, on 11/03/2007, -2/+6I concur. Stacks are really getting on my nerves. I would love it if it let me right-click like before and go into sub-folders, and if the icon wouldn't change every time a file is added. Hopefully somebody develops a haxie to make stacks better.
          • noblepenguin, on 11/02/2007, -1/+2I would really love stacks if they kept it mostly as is but instead of opening the folder in the finder when clicked on the folder would shift over next to the dock and its contents would then get displayed and so on. It would easily solve the problem. Command clicking would open the folder in the finder if you wanted it.
          • trakais, on 11/02/2007, -11/+3maybe you should downgrade, or switch to another OS?
          • MonkeyFarts, on 11/02/2007, -1/+2trakais: Yeah, because switching OS's over one little thing that's probably going to be fixed, be it by Apple or by a 3rd party developer, within a week or two is so logical.
          • Tippis, on 11/02/2007, -0/+2The new special-folder icons also makes the whole idea of placing folders on the dock far less useful than it was in Tiger...
        • InitialDMP5, on 11/02/2007, -1/+3DOCK SCREW is the name of a program that does exactly what you want with one click, and clicking it again changes it back.

          http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/26077/dockscr ...
      • jasongdx, on 11/02/2007, -0/+72DorNot2D is the name of the app, I think.
    • mercurysquad, on 11/03/2007, -41/+5sudo rm -rf /
      • astrosmash, on 11/03/2007, -3/+22diskutil eraseVolume HFS+ /Volumes/WINDOWS
  • beerbarron, on 11/02/2007, -3/+5I like my current one but dugg
    • cheney08, on 11/04/2007, -3/+0My friend would hate this. He says GUIs are a waste of graphics, lol.
  • Oakes, on 11/11/2007, -22/+16This is not an improvement *at all* on Leopard's shelf dock. All it's doing is making it darker. The key issue is that it's visually busy. Here's a much better dock design:

    http://www.thinkmac.co.uk/blog/2007/08/hint-how-to ...
    • toetagger, on 11/02/2007, -1/+17Well, it's personal preference. Darker allows the "active lights", or what ever they're called, to stand out more. I find it rather handsome.
    • dustinmacdonald, on 11/03/2007, -5/+10That's an absolutely terrible redesign.
    • spargett, on 11/02/2007, -2/+7That's a dock, only a mother could love.
  • digitallysick, on 11/02/2007, -1/+3directions are in the zip file in the article
  • michaelz92, on 11/03/2007, -8/+3mirror?
  • ExSlashdotter, on 11/03/2007, -7/+4The thing is, I like the flat smoked look of the Leopared dock when you throw it to the side of the screen. I don't get why the visual style of the dock has to be tied to its position (yes, i know about the mirror effect being weird on the side). What i'm saying is, why cant you make the smoked flat dock go on the bottom?
    • rebz, on 11/02/2007, -1/+6you can, read some of the threaded comments above.
    • totorototoro, on 11/02/2007, -1/+3http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20071 ... ?
    • darkspire, on 11/02/2007, -5/+3It's probably been said a thousand times, but you can do the following:
      From a shell you can modify the defaults for the docks display style using the following commands:
      defaults write com.apple.dock no-glass -boolean YES
      killall Dock
      When you move your mouse back to the bottom of the screen the dock will relaunch using the style of the dock on the side of the screen. I had to do this the first day I installed leopard, between the cheesy reflections and the nearly invisible blue active application indicators the new dock is just terrible.
      • ExSlashdotter, on 11/02/2007, -7/+4Yes, thank you. I think i only have read that about 100 times this last week, so thanks for pointing it out again.

        But still, why cant you do it from the dock prefs?
        • Audacitor, on 11/02/2007, -0/+2Because you can't. Not until someone makes a .prefpane for it, but why bother, since we already have an app for it.
  • ferrariman60, on 11/03/2007, -18/+15Why does everything need to be reflective, pseudo 3d, and transparent now? I'm no mac fan, but I liked Tiger more. It was clean, elegant, and not visually distracting. Leopard is none of the above.
    • astrosmash, on 11/02/2007, -6/+12I disagree. Leopard looks great.
    • clockdist, on 11/02/2007, -4/+9I hear what you're saying, but I don't think Leopard went overboard with the 3D and transparency, like some other OS' have.
    • ferrariman60, on 11/02/2007, -1/+6That wasn't just a shot at leopard. That was also a shot a vista, which goes over the top in places of it's own. I just think the leopard dock is so useless/distracting. It was great in tiger- used a minimum of real estate, it was easy to see what programs were running, and it was tastefully transparent. In Leopard, it serves the same purpose- but takes up more space, is more distracting, and is harder to see what programs are running at a glance. Needless changes to an already wonderful element of the desktop, IMHO. Just saying.
      • NRX22, on 07/23/2008, -1/+1I agree with you 100%.
      • jpt62089, on 11/03/2007, -0/+1While I agree with you on pretty much all the points you've made I do have to say, it just takes time to get used to. I am already starting to be able to just glance at the dock and see open apps and stuff... Of course now that I've modified it with the darker image it makes it a ton easier to read/see :)

        On the takes up more space than Tiger I also agree, but then again you can make it smaller ;)
    • Bamborzled, on 11/03/2007, -3/+3"clean, elegant, and not visually distracting. Leopard is none of the above."

      I think that Brushed Metal was also none of the above. Although I agree the 3D dock is a bit excessive, Leopard generally improves the appearance of OS X overall.
  • Onso, on 11/02/2007, -3/+4mirror please

  • halvertos, on 11/02/2007, -4/+3site down for maintenance?

    ...weak
  • sherkaner, on 11/05/2007, -5/+52Bit of a self plug, but I actually was playing around last night and made a couple of new dock looks myself, if anybody is interested:

    http://www.hine.org/graphic/2007_10_docks/

    Instructions are on the page with the zip files.
    • XedLos, on 11/02/2007, -1/+1Do they work on the sides?
      • Audacitor, on 11/02/2007, -0/+1No, the side dock uses different images to generate its appearance than the bottom dock does. Actually, the side dock uses more images, and would be much more customizable.
    • dagamer34, on 11/02/2007, -0/+3Hope your site can handle the digg effect.
    • sherkaner, on 11/02/2007, -0/+4No, the side dock format is different, although I guess I could make versions for the side if I was motivated enough (or you could with the included photoshop files).
      • XedLos, on 11/02/2007, -0/+2A side dock replacement would be great. I kinda liked the dock that was in the Beta builds of leopard
    • gmprunner, on 11/02/2007, -0/+6The wood one looks great, reminds me of Delicious Library.
    • zongamin, on 11/13/2007, -11/+2Wow those are even worse than the default one!
      • Audacitor, on 11/03/2007, -1/+5Okay, punk, what've you got to show off?
      • kyouteki, on 11/02/2007, -1/+1I dunno, I kinda like the ice one.
      • cyberwiz01, on 11/02/2007, -1/+1The wood one is awesome! I'd like to see YOU do better.
    • spargett, on 11/03/2007, -1/+7The wood one looks tough to pull off.
  • Floris, on 11/03/2007, -8/+4Talk about Dupe articles on Digg.
  • rdeal1, on 11/03/2007, -5/+1nice above... i like the icedock version
  • happytedium, on 11/03/2007, -0/+23I'm using this one at the moment: http://macthemes2.net/forum/viewtopic.php?id=16782 ...

    Totally beautiful, works great on both light and dark backgrounds. Screenshot (my desktop, to show how it is with darker bgs): http://tinyurl.com/2ny276
    • sherkaner, on 11/02/2007, -0/+6That first URL doesn't seem to work, but the screenshot is very nice.
    • MonkeyFarts, on 11/02/2007, -0/+9Wow! I never actually thought that I would like ANY kind of reflective, "swooping" Dock, but this Dock just proved me wrong. This sure beats Apple's 2D replacement Dock, and it beats the everliving hell out of their 3D version.
    • revmitcz, on 11/02/2007, -1/+1haha.. sweet. That's the dock mod I posted yesterday :)
    • Lionhart, on 11/02/2007, -0/+2Move that Applications shortcut to stacks!
    • spargett, on 11/02/2007, -0/+2Looks good, but an FYI... it'll look best with a dark desktop photo. The lighter the desktop gets, the more out of place a black dock will look.

      P.S. Nice torrent speeds btw.
  • vacuum2440, on 11/03/2007, -9/+5wow... 60 diggs and down she goes
    • formergthing, on 11/02/2007, -1/+7The weird part is there are now almost 100 diggs. Why did the last 40 people digg it if the server has been down?
      • hackerssidekick, on 11/02/2007, -1/+2Bookmark for future reference etc
  • patbon, on 11/03/2007, -11/+1www.duggmirror.com
  • chuckythe2651, on 11/02/2007, -1/+17OK...I guess I'm the only guy that likes the new dock. I did make it a bit darker, but the 3d look is cool (IMHO)
    • Audacitor, on 11/02/2007, -0/+1I like the new dock too, albeit a bit turned down.
    • CATSCEO, on 11/03/2007, -0/+1I like the new Dock too
  • blurky, on 11/03/2007, -8/+5Why not just get the nice dock from the side on the bottom:
    type into terminal:
    > defaults write com.apple.dock no-glass -boolean YES
    > killall Dock
    (the > above denotes the prompt - dont type it :)
    Voila!
  • masterc, on 11/02/2007, -0/+6Highly reflective isn't less obtrusive - it's the opposite.
  • formergthing, on 11/02/2007, -0/+12Direct links to images:

    http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Quicksilver ...

    http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Quicksilver ...

    http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Quicksilver ...

    Meh.

    and the zip: http://dav.earthlink.net/elitemacfreak/MegaMail/7e ...
  • c0r3file, on 11/03/2007, -0/+27I'm really glad every headline on digg now has the words 'stunning', 'gorgeous', 'fabulous', or 'spectacular'. Now we just need a pink theme.
  • potterboy, on 11/02/2007, -1/+2Mirror: http://rapidshare.com/files/66863282/H.C._Leopard_ ...
  • DAC1138, on 11/06/2007, -3/+26WOW!!! It looks....it looks.....just like the regular dock!
  • InitialDMP5, on 11/03/2007, -6/+3DOCK SCREW does that little terminal code with a one button click. Now you have the great clean simple look of the side dock on the bottom, and without having to open the terminal!

    http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/26077/dockscr ...
  • opusaz, on 11/02/2007, -1/+2This idea's been floating around mac-forums for a few days.
    http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/showthread.php?t= ...
  • skyshock1, on 11/03/2007, -12/+5Am I the only one that really hates having a dock in the first place? Quicksilver + Alt-Tab FTW. Screenspace-robbing dock with dumbass distracting animations FTL.

    Also, why the hell does every object on the computer now have to be sitting on a piece of highly reflective black glass?! This has to be the most overused and silly effect I've seen. Everything from corporate logos to my goddamn picture albums use that same cheese-dick half-gradient, semi-translucent, reflection effect.

    Okay, we get it, Web 2.0 is cool, NOW CAN WE PLEASE ***** KNOCK IT OFF???
    • Protoss, on 11/03/2007, -1/+5cheese-dick?
    • stimpack, on 11/02/2007, -1/+2Well I will digg you up, but cannot compete with the anger of the fanboys. Apple has gone form over function for a long time now, this is not good. There is no rule saying we must follow Steve Jobs like sheep.
      Docks are stupid ideas, a complete waste of screen real estate. With widescreens now a dock is almost comical. Put it at the side?, then the reflections disappear, no fanboy would do that, they would rather squint at a extreme letterbox display. /sigh
      • skyshock1, on 11/02/2007, -0/+1I currently have mine sized as small as it can be, and auto-hidden, but I'd like the option to turn it off COMPLETELY. The bar at the top is good enough. No need to have frickin' bars all over my desktop.
  • acidity, on 11/03/2007, -6/+2Frankly,I dont see any difference. Are people so finicky?
  • maninblac1, on 11/03/2007, -6/+2Not even a few days out and people are trying to replace the dock in leopard, what next, the OS itself? :-D
    • Audacitor, on 11/02/2007, -1/+1No, third-party apps are what's next.
  • drewfer, on 11/03/2007, -5/+2A little of topic but I HATE image shack. They lick my balls.
    • Audacitor, on 11/02/2007, -1/+1I read that as 'they like my balls'...
  • bonds, on 11/03/2007, -3/+13ZOMG GORGEOUS!! Paaahlease say there's a matching handbag!
    • mikito238, on 11/02/2007, -0/+2you stole my opportunity for a witty critique. can someone with more time than me count the number of times the words gorgeous or stunning have been used in digg headlines. It's getting a little out of hand
  • Stelex, on 11/03/2007, -0/+4And here are the black triangles in the 3D Dock, just like in Tiger: http://www.silvermac.com/2007/leopard-dock-with-bl ...
    • Audacitor, on 11/03/2007, -0/+2"This new version just scrolls like butter."
      I'm aroused.
  • cire9753, on 11/02/2007, -3/+4i like my custom one better
    http://img221.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture1m ...

    • spargett, on 11/02/2007, -0/+2Looks so much better without the "s-line".
  • mrosen310, on 11/02/2007, -0/+4wow i just got this dock muck better than the old one

  • jabberwolf, on 11/03/2007, -10/+3WOW shiny things shiny things!!! Just enough to distract macfans from bugs, exploits, blue screen upgrades. Sorry I like my SLI/Crossfire options with animation and rendering software made for 64 bit systems... all options which they don't make for OSX. But hey nice tool bar!
    • InitialDMP5, on 11/02/2007, -1/+3So you hear some people complain about some things that don't happen on every computer, and make it sound like a huge problem. I think you are in the less than 1 percentile that cares about whatever you are talking about. Everyone else just installs their OS so they can do their work/fun/play.
    • sudowrestler, on 11/02/2007, -1/+0Thanks. The tool bar was made especially for you.
    • 0xFEEDFACE, on 11/03/2007, -0/+5Is it actually necessary to be a sarcastic dick? Seriously. We're all geeks here -- is it not possible to discuss an OS without making inflammatory/inaccurate comments like yours?

      Be a ***** adult.
    • MacParrot, on 11/02/2007, -0/+2jabberwolf likes talking about shiny things. It distracts people from his poor hygiene and cheetos breath. Which now that I think about it are probably related.
    • Audacitor, on 11/02/2007, -0/+1Dude, it's called a menubar. Don't criticise things you know nothing about.
  • eadnams, on 11/02/2007, -0/+5I made a nice custom dock with a deep blue 'floor' and bright orange 'active' dots, looks fantastic.... I'll post it if anyone is interested.
    • TheWorm, on 11/02/2007, -0/+1Sure. Just reply to this comment. I'd like to see it.
  • toetagger, on 11/03/2007, -1/+5I did it. It works. Easy. Great instructions. Looks great. It looks even better live on the screen than it does in the pics! I love it! Thanks!
  • NeoRicen, on 11/02/2007, -0/+2If you kill the dock while no images are there it looks pretty cool.

    I decided to leave it as is though, looks better with my wallpaper.
  • t86y, on 11/02/2007, -0/+0I like the black ones, but I wish there was a white outline or something...
  • clarencepk, on 11/02/2007, -1/+1I know there's a lot of people doing great work on the forums, but I just don't belong to any of them. I'd still like to show what I did with some time and effort. If you like it, feel free to snag the zip of the four files you need to replace (I'm sure everyone here knows what's what with the Dock resources and everything).

    Wood Dock Image:
    http://idisk.mac.com/steven.kreis/Public/wooddock. ...

    Wood Dock Archive:
    http://idisk.mac.com/steven.kreis/Public/wooddock. ...

    Enjoy!
    • spargett, on 11/03/2007, -0/+4The grain's perspective conflicts with the dock divider's perspective. Huge design no-no.
    • mlostracco, on 11/02/2007, -0/+1Grain should go sideways so it doesn't look wonky.
    • Shiner6, on 11/05/2007, -0/+3Hey guys - I created a site just for Leopard Docks - http://www.leoparddocks.com/ - check it out and submit any and all designs you have done. Help me get this thing going!
  • M600i, on 11/02/2007, -0/+0naah, I like more the original one :)
  • czechman86, on 11/02/2007, -0/+1has anyone done this in the curve style that is so popular with AWN?
  • Angirus, on 11/02/2007, -1/+0I have a big problem with the dock: it can't be locked. It's too easy to drag items off of it. We got our mother a Mac and she sometimes accidentally drags items off the dock and doesn't have a prayer of knowing how to fix it until we remote control the computer to fix it. Last time I checked there was no resolution to this. Strange, being that this is a Mac.
    • Angirus, on 11/02/2007, -0/+0Apparently there is in fact a way to do this with recent versions of OS X. I stand corrected.
  • Xonay, on 11/02/2007, -0/+2Looks GREAT! Worked after a reboot.
  • Septimus, on 11/02/2007, -2/+1You can do this with docktweak.app without having to replace files or reboot. Worth a google.
  • SketchyClown, on 11/02/2007, -0/+1Well done man. Very nice.
  • MajorMauser, on 11/02/2007, -1/+1Sorry I won't be using this.... thanks for the effort but I think it sucks. Smoke is much better. Its just the wave in the Apple and this that makes no sense...... its a Flat surface.
  • MacintoshSauce, on 11/03/2007, -8/+0Check out my new coloured Dock graphics! :)

    http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=44337 ...
  • MacintoshSauce, on 11/03/2007, -7/+0Check out my new coloured Dock graphics! :)
    http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=44337 ...

  • obtix, on 11/02/2007, -0/+2Honestly, I love the 3d but dislike how they accomplished it. What I did was remove the following files from the Dock.app contents:
    scurve-l.png, scurve-m.png, scurve-sm.png, scurve-xl.png, and frontlne.png

    Make sure you back them up somewhere incase you ant to go back but it will give the dock a really nice transparent mirror look.
    • tomis, on 11/02/2007, -0/+1Now that's some hard-core shine. Glass indeed! Nice tip.
    • t86y, on 11/03/2007, -0/+0Could you post a picture please?
  • danjal, on 11/02/2007, -0/+2hey, worst place to ask... but if can you run lepoard on a mac mini, intel 1.65Ghz, 512mb?
    • akuma1, on 11/02/2007, -0/+0I think if you upgrade the RAM to 1.5 gb you could. I had a mac mini with a 1.5ghz processor and 2gb of RAM it smoked.

      I would say yes just upgrade the RAM.
    • WaterMedia, on 11/02/2007, -0/+1You can run it. The only issue is memory but you meet the specs. It would be helpful to have at least 1 gb whenever using OS X.
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