[darkelf]

precious little, since i prefer dragthing. that's got nearly all my frequently used apps, folders, and some docs, organized in functional groups.

[kwill]

Let's see, to the left there's the Finder. And on the right there's the Trash. Oh, I guess that's it!

[jclphoto]

To me the Dock is a horrible application switcher and even worse launcher.
Read this article to find out why: http://www.asktog.co...0docksucks.html
I cringe whenever I see someone with 20+ apps in the Dock and magnification turned on. It takes the person so long to find the app because so many other apps are hiding it.
Although I don't like it much as an application switcher, its there and I can't really remove it so I use it as such. But for a launcher I use QuickSilver. Before QS came along I used DragThing which I still like.
I would love to see tab menus or windows or whatever they were called in OS 10.

[d00d]

Finder, EyeHome (unavoidable), EyeTV, Popcorn, VLC, iTunes, iPhoto, Terminal, TextMate, BBEdit, Transmit, Unison, OmniOutliner Pro, Yojimbo, iCal, MarsEdit, NetNewsWire, Adium, Mail.app, and OmniWeb on my Mac Pro. My Powerbook has about half of those.

[veggiedude]

I'm the only person using Imagewell in the dock? How can that be?

[justme2]

In my dock, I try to organize by zones:
After Finder, Dashboard and Sys Prefs, I have:
Household organization software: iCal, Mail, Address Book, Recipe Manager
Media software: iTunes, Real Player
Web browsers: Safari, Firefox, Camino, Netscape -- experimenting with which ones I like best
Digital management software: Photoshop Elements, iPhoto, iMovie, iWeb
Research Software: World Book, Dictionary
Writing related software: Desktop Poet (when I need to break a writer's block), Dramatica Pro, Journaler and MacJournal (evaluating to see which one I like best), CopyWrite and WriteRoom (ditto), Text Edit, AppleWorks, Pages, Keynote, MS Word
Fun and Games: Full Tilt Poker client, Sims 2 Pets, Big Board Backgammon, Burning Monkey MahJong, Burning Monkey Solitare, Poker Superstars II
Miscellaneous: Google Earth
Eventually I'll get rid of a bunch more -- if I decide I like Pages and iWork '07 has a spreadsheet option, I may ditch both AppleWorks and the Office suite, and I'm about narrowed down to Safari and Firefox for browsers -- but the "zone" method works well for now...

[Solvs]

Bon Echo
Quicktime
iTunes
GarageBand
iWeb
iPhoto
Preview
TextEdit
Then my Apps folder and shared drive shortcut next to the Trash. I like simplicity. I need anything else, that's what the Apps folder or Spotlight are for.

[kirkmc]

There's not much need for Dock icons if you use LaunchBar. I only keep apps I use all the time (that would be in the Dock when they're open, such as Mail, Safari, iChat, etc - I'd rather have them there so they stay in the same place all the time) or those that I use by drag-and-drop (such as Smultron). For the rest, LaunchBar.
Kirk

[whitedog]

I think how people use the Dock - or don't use it - is as interesting as what they keep in it. I've only got ten apps permanently in the Dock, though there are some others from background applications like Spell Catcher that insinuate themselves whether I want them there or not. But, to the right of the divider I also have ten folders that I use regularly - most with custom icons so I can tell them apart. And I hide the Dock, though it often pops up inconveniently when I move my cursor to the bottom of a page or palette.
Most of my applications, utilities, communications programs and folders are in DragThing layers. I've tried most of the other launchers but DragThing is still my favorite. It conveniently minimizes to a single tab at the bottom of the screen (like OS 9 window tabs) when its not the front-most application so, like my hidden Dock, it's out of the way until I need it.
I didn't like the Dock when I first started using OS X but now I really miss it when I have to work on a client's Mac in OS 9 - yes, there are still some Luddites out there who use OS 9.

[invalidname]

Finder
Dashboard
Mail
Shiira - with the user agent pretending to be the latest Safari /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
Firefox - for sites that don't work with Shiira
iChat
Skype
QuickTime Player
iTunes
StepMania - for exercise
Terminal
BBEdit
Mariner Write - my favorite word processor, going on 10 years now
NeoOffice - I have MS Office, but I'd rather use Neo, especially for presentations
HexEdit - for investigating QuickTime files, et al
MYOB FirstEdge - for my S-corporation finances
iCal
Activity Monitor - what's sucking up my CPU cycles?
WeatherDock - why don't more apps use the dock to communicate status?
Chicken of the VNC
Emacs22 - compiled by hand
--Chris

[DarthMac]

Quote:

---

In my dock, I try to organize by zones:

---

Same here, internet apps together at the top, then graphics apps, then text/markup editors and finally miscellaneous apps at the bottom.
Since this thread started I've reviewed what I've got in my dock and removed some of the apps I don't use as frequently as I used to.

[MacGod]

From left to right:
- Finder (duh)
- Dashboard (duh)
- Safari
- Firefox
- iTunes
- Proteus (multi-protocol IM application)
- Skype
- iChat
- PowerMail
- Palm Desktop
- QuickTime
- DVD Player
- TextEdit
- Preview
- Stuffit Expander
- Terminal
- System Prefs
- Civilization IV
- Command & Conquer Generals: Zero Hour
- Blank This Screen (sets your screen to black, useful since my Mac is in my bedroom and I leave it on overnight sometimes and my Energy Savers prefs turn the monitor off only after 20 mins)
---Divider---
- Root level of my hard drive (so I can access anywhere on my Mac from the Dock)
- Applications Folder
- My Home Folder
- The subfolder where I keep all my university work
- Utilities folder
- Trash (duh)

[Rageous]

Mine is arranged by workflow order. Basically I've tweaked Finder to direct straight towards my Applications folder, then moved all my rarely-used stuff into the Utilities folder... and the super-active stuff goes into the dock. This list is exactly the order I go when sitting down at the computer, and when I do my web work.
Finder
Mail
Adium
iChat
Safari
iTunes
TextEdit
BBEdit
Color Schemer Studio
Photoshop CS3 Beta
MAMP
Headdress
Transmit
Parallels
System Preferences
I've had much longer and more elaborate over time, but usually I find myself just throwing stuff down there to show off what I have. This is the first time I've had a start to finish list of stuff I use on a ridiculously frequent level. At any given time, most or all of these apps are running.
Oh, and I use ClearDock too. I cannot stand that quasi-transparent awful-looking box around my apps.

[samuelclarke]

Here's my dock: LINK!
Left to right: Finder, Safari, Firefox, iChat, Newsfire, Mail, Address Book, iCal, MacJournal, DEVONthink, Wallet, Delicious Library, MacSword, Word, Keynote, CorelDRAW 11, Illustrator CS2, InDesign CS2, Photoshop CS2, FontExplorer X, Disco, iTunes, iPhoto, Peak 4, GarageBand, TextMate, CSSEdit, Transmit, RapidWeaver, QuickTime Pro, Parallels Desktop, System Preferences, Documents, Media and Graphics, Trash
I also use Quicksilver to launch the other apps that I use less often.