RocketDock logo If you’re looking for an attractive yet lightweight application launcher, RocketDock is an excellent option to consider. This small, free application will add a very professional, Mac OS X-style dock to your Windows desktop, from where you can launch your most commonly used programs and folders right away with a single click! RocketDock definitely stands upto it’s claims, hardly consuming any memory on my laptop (peaking at just 12MB).

My Desktop 2

RocketDock on my cold-blue desktop

RocketDock is dead easy to use and configure. Just drag any icon / folder to the dock to pin it there and drag out any icon to remove it. Once arranged, you can lock the icons to prevent accidental deletions.

Choose from the several skins provided, set the icons’ transparency levels, choose and add icons for various apps, use separators to group similar apps and folders, set the position of the dock, modify / disable the eye-candy effects …. I could just go on and on!

RocketDock Settings

And if the inbuilt stuff isn’t enough, there is a mammoth repository of free addons available at the RocketDock website. RocketDock is even compatible with the other similar tool like ObjectDock, Y’z Dock, RK Launcher, and MobyDock!

One great feature of RocketDock is the support for docklets – tiny apps that do nifty tasks from within the dock. RocketDock comes with one built-in docklet – an analog clock. However you can download and use from hundreds of other docklets available in the repos.

RocketDock can also be used to store your minimized applications, instead of cluttering the task bar. Very much like the higher versions of Windows Vista (aka Ultimate, Business and Home Premium), RocketDock shows a small preview of all the minimized applications so that you can actually see which window you want to restore again! Oh, this feature is available only for Vista (and useful for Home Basic users).

For a 6MB tool, RocketDock certainly does a lot and more to beautify your desktop and boost your productivity. Try it out!

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