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Mac OS X's Finder makes it easy to keep your files and folders organized, but all too often I've seen developers— particularly those who have recently switched from Windows-- with a desktop so cluttered that it makes me flinch. I like to keep my desktop as clear as my desk, free of distraction.

I'm sure that everyone already knows that you can drag files and folders to the Dock for easy access, but I've found it useful to partition the dock into collections of shortcuts so that everything I access regularly is close at hand:

I created a Shortcuts folder in my home directory, and added five subdirectories: Applications, Utilities, Code, Tips, and Reference. Rather than adding aliases to the entire Applications or Utilities folders, these folders contain aliases just to the applications that I use the most.

I switched out the icons for the shortcut folders to make them more distinguishable, then simply dragged them to the Dock.

Control-click on the Dock icon for a folder to bring up display options. I personally prefer to sort by kind, display as a folder, and view content as a grid.

In the Code folder I've got aliases pointing to a combination of commonly-used applications (XCode, BBEdit, etc.) and BBEdit project files:

Now, with two clicks, I can fire up any application that I need to. When the grid view is invoked, you can also use the arrow keys or type the first few letters of an item to select it, then hit Return to launch it.

Comments

TheDegausser
June 9, 2009 at 5:35 PM

This is a splendid idea. I've noted ever since switching from Windows to Mac OS that it's harder to remember what applications I have installed (owing to the lack of the equivalent of a start menu). They're all just piled in the 'Applications' folder in no handy order. Setting up folders on the dock containing aliases would give me a way to keep better track of everything. I'll be trying it out shortly. By the way, I'd really like to know what icon set(s) you used in the screenshots above, especially the round ones that represent the shortcut folders.

Corey Ehmke
June 9, 2009 at 8:11 PM

Those are from the NiceOnDesk set by Hein Mevissen. They're from 2001 (!) and an admittedly quick search on Google didn't turn them up anywhere. Maybe with some patience you could find them? If not, let me know and perhaps I could e-mail them.