I am creating a new thread for discussing the Dock. I really belive it is a huge step back. So here is why I think so:
First the Dock broke with the spacial metapher completely. It is mixing up program icons for launching, running applications, programs themselves, aliases, files, opened windows of the same and different programs, and special things like the trash.
So it is making things more complicated, it is unclear what it shall exactly be, and a kind of "doing everything, but nothing 100% stringent".
I even belive it is killing users independence. For example I know people having several applications running at the same time and wondering why the performance of the computer goes down massively, ... (EDIT: because the programs are just in the Dock, and all windows are closed, they don´t get anymore that the program itselve is running).
Than there is the problem that the UI of the Dock is crazy. It is simply wasting the space at the bottom of the screen. Either it has the entire high wasted (even the unused space left and right of the dock) what is especially nonsense at 16:10 screens (and not many people move it left or right side of the screen), or you configure it to move away, but then it comes out every time you move the mouse near to the bottom, ...
It is nasty. Especially with programs like XPress where the main toolbox is below the window. I for example move fast to the bottom and then the last few centimeters exactly to the right tool.
And you cannot use the computer completely without it. Or at least nobody could tell me where the "real" trash is then, ...
It is even possible to bring yourselve into a "deadlock". If you move a window (again like the small xpress toolbox) into the "space" of the dock, you cannot use it anymore as the Dock always moves out over the floating pallette. A huge design fault in my opinion (note, I just used Docks up to 10.5.8, perhaps it is better now?).
Then there is the ugly fancy animation all the time. I see it as completely unnecessary to see icons wobbeling around, while the application starts. As well the "close" animations are just using computing power, ... well I belive this thing got only produced to be fancy and "new" and to increase the new sellings. But from a user perspective it is ugly and indifferently.
totaly crazy User interaction and huge faults like the senseless Dock. The Dock for example is a real Disaster regarding usability.
wtf. the dock is way better than the OS9 program menu ever was (except that you can not move it into a seperate window.)
Hmm what does "better" mean for you? I am not sure that you really used the program switcher with all its possibilities. For example you can use it exactly "just with Icons" at the bottom of the screen for program switching. If you use it with holding ALT down, switching is an incredible fast workflow, and you get the entire program with all it´s opened windows, and do not need to open/close every window.
worst of the OS9 program menu is that it is an extension, so it can not be restarted when it crashes.
That is perhaps a treu point. But I never got it to crash, so that the finder istselve is still working. Did you?
if you want to see something really shitty, try windows 8. there you can not even open documents by dragging them on a program icon in the task bar.
Haha, I didn´t know this
Crazy!
EDIT: after reading the posting again, I got that I need to write more positive postings about my Mac usage, otherwise it is possible to create an image "as the guy who is only on his personal crusade against X" :-p