Dock

The Dock is a prominent feature of the graphical user interface of the OS X operating system. It is used to launch applications and switch between running applications. The Dock is also a prominent feature of OS X’s predecessor NeXTSTEP and OpenStep operating systems. The earliest known implementations of a dock are found in operating systems such as RISC OS and NextStep. iOS has its own version of the Dock for iPhone and iPad. Apple applied for a US patent for the design of the Dock in 1999 and was granted the patent in October 2008, nine years later. Applications can be added to and removed from the Dock by drag and drop, except for the Finder, which is a permanent fixture as the leftmost item (or topmost if the Dock is configured to be vertical). The Trash icon is also a permanent fixture at the right end (or bottom if the Dock is repositioned). Part of the system core services in OS X, Dock.app is located at /System/Library/CoreServices/.

Michael Grothaus

Apple expert and novelist, Michael Grothaus has been covering tech on KnowYourMobile for the best part of 10 years. Prior to this, he worked at Apple. And before that, he was a film journalist. Michael is a published author; his book Epiphany Jones was voted as one of the best novels about Hollywood by Entertainment Weekly. Michael is also a writer at other publications including VICE and Fast Company.