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Read my other comment in this thread. The Windows taskbar he almost the exact same behavior as the Mac OS dock.

bscphil 6y ago
Windows invented the taskbar, so far as I know, and their initial implementation only showed the icons: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/88/Windows_1_Bar.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/88/Windows_1_Bar... The macOS dock distinguishes itself aesthetically precisely by not being a taskbar with other functions and features. Every other taskbar implementation, even the ones that use icons (an approach that predates the Apple dock), sees it as important to not waste space and provide indicators and useful widgets on the same bar. The "dock" approach is distinct in that it contains only large friendly application buttons, and doesn't use the full width of the screen. The thin taskbars common to other operating systems which also frequently use icons to switch applications shouldn't be considered docks, if for no other reason than that they predate Apple's approach. As you pointed out in your other comment, clicking on one of the icons doesn't even do the same thing in Windows as on macOS, and the task switcher part of the taskbar is the most comparable thing between taskbars and Apple's dock.
- dragonwriter 6y ago
  > Windows invented the taskbar Maybe, though it was probably inspired by a merger of the dock, which was not introduced by Apple but by NeXT in NeXTstep 1.0 (well, before 1.0, really), and the graphical shell menu/status bar in MacOS which MacOS had long before it had a dock, which it didn't get until OSX; the Windows task bar approximately merges those functions (but doesn't also serve as an application menu bar the way the MacOS one does.)
- throwaway8581 6y ago
  Yes but the Windows 7 taskbar became very similar in function to the Mac OS dock. The behavior in previous versions was different, showing each window as a separate entry and not merging the app switching and quick launch mechanisms. It’s true the Windows taskbar also does other things. But that’s not really my point. Gnome 2 didn’t have a component that acted like a dock.

Windows invented the taskbar, so far as I know, and their initial implementation only showed the icons: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/88/Windows_1_Bar.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/88/Windows_1_Bar... The macOS dock distinguishes itself aesthetically precisely by not being a taskbar with other functions and features. Every other taskbar implementation, even the ones that use icons (an approach that predates the Apple dock), sees it as important to not waste space and provide indicators and useful widgets on the same bar. The "dock" approach is distinct in that it contains only large friendly application buttons, and doesn't use the full width of the screen. The thin taskbars common to other operating systems which also frequently use icons to switch applications shouldn't be considered docks, if for no other reason than that they predate Apple's approach. As you pointed out in your other comment, clicking on one of the icons doesn't even do the same thing in Windows as on macOS, and the task switcher part of the taskbar is the most comparable thing between taskbars and Apple's dock.

dragonwriter 6y ago
> Windows invented the taskbar Maybe, though it was probably inspired by a merger of the dock, which was not introduced by Apple but by NeXT in NeXTstep 1.0 (well, before 1.0, really), and the graphical shell menu/status bar in MacOS which MacOS had long before it had a dock, which it didn't get until OSX; the Windows task bar approximately merges those functions (but doesn't also serve as an application menu bar the way the MacOS one does.)
throwaway8581 6y ago
Yes but the Windows 7 taskbar became very similar in function to the Mac OS dock. The behavior in previous versions was different, showing each window as a separate entry and not merging the app switching and quick launch mechanisms. It’s true the Windows taskbar also does other things. But that’s not really my point. Gnome 2 didn’t have a component that acted like a dock.