Windows 7's Taskbar....Err.....Circle Dock for the DC Programming Contest

[mouser]

Mentioned on Free Download A Day Blog:
http://www.freedownl...al-dock-for-windows/

[ma5t3rw1tt]

Well I have completely switched from using RocketDock & Rk Launcher to using Circle Dock and to my surprise, its freaking awsome. Not only do I have a clutter free desktop, but I also just saved up some ram as well.

I however am still using RocketDock to just just minimize the windows because I don't like using the Windows default taskbar. When CircleDock finally gets the minimize to dock option, then I'll be using CircleDock as my primary launcher and management of work.

Keep up the good work!

[David.P]

I was looking for a replacement to Nexus Dock and came across Circle Dock. Looking at the release dates and this thread, I fear however that Circle Dock is abandonware.

True?

[Curt]

Abandonware version 1.5.5 by Markham and Eric Wong from March 2010:
32-bits: http://www.pcworld.c...32-bit-version-.html
64-bits: http://www.pcworld.c...64-bit-version-.html

[David.P]

So is it still being maintained...? On the official (?) page they say "The current version of Circle Dock is 0.9. (with the download links dead).

How come -- or is only that page abandoned, and is there a newer homepage somewhere?

[tomos]

So is it still being maintained...? On the official (?) page they say "The current version of Circle Dock is 0.9. (with the download links dead).

How come -- or is only that page abandoned, and is there a newer homepage somewhere?

-David.P (March 15, 2014, 10:30 AM)

I think it got abandoned.
There was a problem with the license in 2010 or so. (It was already abandoned, but with a GPL license, then further developed by another developer, but source code wasnt released, got messy unfortunately). I thought there was an earlier version on sourceforge but couldnt find it there.

[sgtevmckay]

So is it still being maintained...? On the official (?) page they say "The current version of Circle Dock is 0.9. (with the download links dead).

How come -- or is only that page abandoned, and is there a newer homepage somewhere?

-David.P (March 15, 2014, 10:30 AM)

I think it got abandoned.
There was a problem with the license in 2010 or so. (It was already abandoned, but with a GPL license, then further developed by another developer, but source code wasnt released, got messy unfortunately). I thought there was an earlier version on sourceforge but couldnt find it there.

-tomos (March 15, 2014, 03:25 PM)

After many months of trying to find someone to pick up this project, and teh fiasco that ensued a few years back.....yes I would declare this project abandoned.
I have not the heart to further try to promote developers to approach a restart of Circle Dock.
The original program is available at Sourceforge.

if anyone were to come forward to restart this program, I would be here immediately to help beta test, promote, and release Circle Dock.
As things stand at this time, I do not even have the heart to support Circle Dock in its current form 

[David.P]

OK, back to Nexus, the only universal Dock that doesn't seem to be abandoned (or Payware).

[wraith808]

Winstep Nexus?  Or some other Nexus?

[David.P]

Winstep Nexus.

[40hz]

Just out of curiosity, what unique feature(s) does CircleDock bring to the mix beyond those of any other dock-type launcher?

It's certainly pretty. And that circular layout is quite eye catching.

But beyond the eye candy and 'cool' factor - is there anything else to recommend it?



I don't mean for this question to be taken as criticism. It's just I can't see what the deal is with CD.

Can somebody help me out please?

[wraith808]

Winstep Nexus.

-David.P (March 24, 2014, 08:25 AM)

Ah... I get my confusion.  They have a free and a paid version (never used anything but the paid version).

Just out of curiosity, what unique feature(s) does CircleDock bring to the mix beyond those of any other dock-type launcher?

-40hz (March 24, 2014, 10:06 AM)

I think it's the use of the middle mouse button and the integration with the layout.  It's also very accessibility friendly, which a lot of other docks are not.

But for the middle mouse button- in the default launch, you bring up the menu with the middle mouse button- the item to activate appears under your mouse cursor.  Then you can roll the mouse wheel to move the menu, rather than having to traverse your mouse and keep up a menu to get to an item.  If you come to a sub menu, the menu spirals out, and you do the same thing rather than trying to navigate another menu structure.  It's more centered around actions, not movement, to launch your items.

The Idea Behind Circle Dock

The idea behind Circle Dock is that the dock should appear where your mouse is instead of you having to move your mouse to the dock like with other programs. This is accomplished by making the dock a circular or spiral shape so that it can be placed anywhere, even near the edge of the screen. The offscreen portions of the dock are easily reached by just scrolling with your mouse wheel or arrow keys.

A user defined hotkey combination is used to make the dock appear and disappear. By default, this combination is CTRL-WINDOWS KEY. You can change it in the settings area of the program.

If you have a mouse with extra buttons or you want to make one of your mouse buttons activate the dock, I recommend you use the program from http://www.highrez.c...useButtonControl.htm and use it to remap your mouse buttons. This makes it very convenient to toggle Circle Dock.

[40hz]

I think it's the use of the middle mouse button and the integration with the layout.

-wraith808 (March 24, 2014, 11:46 AM)

Ah...I see. I guess because I'm used to "middle-button pops-up menu under current cursor position" from my days with Smalltalk, and seeing similar actions with things like the Openbox WM in Linux, it didn't seem like that big a deal to me.

Thanks for the clarification. I had installed it sometime back and discovered didn't care for it after a very short while. Any time that happens I always worry I missed something important.