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Use aliases to Applications to speed up the dock menu Desktop
I just found this out: dragging a folder with aliases to applications into the dock creates a faster application menu then dragging the 'real' Applications folder into the dock.

Everybody who wanted the applications menu back could do this easaly by dragging the Applications folder into (or is it onto?) the Dock. This has a slight downside -- the speed of the menu is not what you would expect of a real menu. So I created a folder (with subfolders) with aliases (links) to the original items in the Applications folder, and dragged that folder to the Dock. This menu works a lot faster. I think it has to do with caching and that the Aplication folder changes to often.

It's also a nice way to order the aplications different from your real Application folder.

[Editor's note: The above is a good general hint for those of you new to OS X. There's not much point to putting your entire Applications (or Utilities or Documents, etc.) folder in the dock, as you probably only use 10% of their contents at any one time. Instead, create folders of aliases of your most-used items, and add those to your dock. I actually keep only one folder in my dock, and it contains 40 or so of my most-used apps and documents, organized by type in sub-folders.]
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Use aliases to Applications to speed up the dock menu | 12 comments | Create New Account
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Alias icon
Authored by: zedwards on Jan 03, '03 10:24:15AM

Is there any way to get rid of the ugly 'alias' icon?



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Alias icon
Authored by: gidds on Jan 03, '03 11:47:38AM
From the Finder (using `Show In Finder' for stuff in the Dock), use `Get info'. You get the current icon in the `General' section of the inspector; you can drag pictures onto it, or use copy and paste on it.  Dead easy.

The only difficult bit is finding something good to replace it with!  (I got some from www.icons.cx and www.xicons.com)

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try Yadal
Authored by: torndownunit on Jan 03, '03 10:37:27AM

If you want to do the same thing, but with some 'style' try getting Yadal from versiontracker. It's one of my favourite dock-addons. Confidguring it is a little quicker then doing the folder full of Alias thing as well.



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Try LaunchBar
Authored by: Brian Kendig on Jan 03, '03 11:29:30AM

Even better, try LaunchBar. It's the best launcher I've found yet. It lets me launch any application by typing Command-Space and a few letters. Disk Utility is command-space D U. GraphicConverter is command-space G C. iSync is command-space I S Y. It adapts to whatever abbreviations I want to use for any app. I have nothing to do with LaunchBar other than being a happy customer; I ordinarily don't care for system add-on applications, but this one has let me pare down my Dock to only the things I use often, since now every app (and web bookmark) on my system is only a few keypresses away. :)



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hang on
Authored by: dfbills on Jan 03, '03 11:30:24AM

If you are doing this, you should definitely check out LaunchBar. This app is simply amazing. It allows you to launch any application instantly.

http://www.launchbar.com/



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Use MaxMenus!
Authored by: Tastannin on Jan 03, '03 11:30:33AM

I love MaxMenus from Proteron LLC (www.proteron.com) which gives you similiar functionality - you can get your entire Applications folder in a drop down menu from any corner of your screen. Well worth the price for fast access to prefs, documents, apps, etc. without cluttering up your dock. I save my dock for my frequently used apps.

Cheers
Ryan



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Use MaxMenus!
Authored by: bluehz on Jan 05, '03 07:23:04AM

I also find MaxMenu to be the solution I use for launching apps. I created a dir I call Toolbox with various dir within that like Audio, Layout, Multimedia, Graphics, Utilities, etc. then place aliases to appropriate apps within these dirs then make the whole thing available through a hotkey in MaxMenus. Only downside to this and any other aliased method is that the whole OS X community of software is in constant flux - software is updated on a rather frequent basis. Updating software often requires updating the aliases.

I thought it might be feasible to create a cron task using a combo shell script and applescript to "Verify" aliases and recreate as necessary that ran ever night - but as of yet I have not had the time to do it, and I am not even sure its possible. Basically just need a script that would scan the above-mentioned "Toolbox" of aliases - then verify if the original of each item still exists and if not then find an alternative original (e.g. a newer version of the same app).



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Yadal, LaunchBar & MaxMenus
Authored by: alajuela on Jan 03, '03 02:24:17PM

This is nice suggestion, but Yadal is a better, free implementation of it. I still think LaunchBar is the best. I also use MaxMenus, but am close to unloading it. LB is just too good and much faster.



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Great Tip
Authored by: dcoyle on Jan 04, '03 06:25:20PM

I stumbled on to this when the earliest versions of OS X were out. What I've been doing is creating a folder called "Apps" in my home folder. Inside this folder, I've got several folders, such as "Utilities". I drag an alias of the various applications I use to wherever it makes the most sense to me. I keep an alias of "Apps" on the dock.

An old trick from the old MacOS still works: do a "get info" on the Applications folder. When the GetInfo window pops up, single-click on the icon, then, from the Edit menu, do a Copy. Now on the folder you have created for your application shortcuts (in my case, "Apps"), do another "get info", single click on the icon, then select Paste from the Edit menu to give you the same icon in your dock that the Applications folder has. You can, of course, paste in whatever icon you want.

Another trick, for those of us who still use Classic a lot, is to find "System Folder:Launcher Items" and make an alias of that in your new Apps (or whatever you choose to call it) folder. Rename the alias to "Classic Apps" (or whatever). All of your Classic applications now appear in a submenu in exactly the way you have structured Launcher.

For those of you new to the Mac, here are some Launcher tips:
You can create an heirarchy of Launcher items in pre- OS X by going to "System Folder:Launcher Items" and creating whatever folders you need, such as "Utilities", "Graphics", or whatever. The trick is that in order for this to work, you have to precede the subfolder name with a bullet, which you get by pressing [Option}-[8]. Whatever isn't in a subfolder shows up in the Launcher in a tab called "Applications". The rest show up in a tab called by whatever name you give it minus the bullet. OS X respects this, and my Classic applications show up in the same heirarchy as in pre - OS X.

For working in the pre - OS X environment, you can also make an alias of "Launcher Items" in "Apple Menu Items" (all in the System Folder). The advantage is that you can still select a new application when the Launcher is obscured by some application's window. I have also found this a good way to avoid the culture shock you get when changing between OS X and older envirionments. "Apple menu: Launcher Items" turns out to be very similar to "dock:apps:Classic Apps".

Again, great tip, great site, and I hope I've contributed something.

Dan



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As an aside, use the control key
Authored by: tcurtin on Jan 06, '03 06:54:06PM

Another thing I stumbled on is if you use the "folder of aliases" technique, you can control-click on it to have the submenu with the contents come up immediately (instead of after a pause.) Otherwise, just one more good hint for a great OS! I just got my new ibook two weeks ago, and I'm still finding out great things about OS X. Man, I've missed having a mac!



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Great Tip
Authored by: dMac? on Jan 07, '03 06:43:33PM

I've found it's simpler for me to have the Favorites folder in the dock.



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Try the Favorites in the dock
Authored by: dMac? on Jan 07, '03 06:46:15PM

I put the Favorites folder in the dock. It works well for me and is nicely integrated with the system, such as standard keyboard shortcuts to add items to it.



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