I visit many community forums on a daily basis, and I often see people post screenshots of their Windows desktop, and sometimes I’m just not sure how they get anything done with such cluttered desktop. What do I mean by “cluttered”? Well the perfect example would be someone who has 75 to 100 icons randomly placed on the desktop. I will admit I used to have the same problem, and it was very hard to have any type of productivity going.
I would bet many of the icons on the desktop are simply just shortcuts to commonly used applications such as a web browser, e-mail client, media player, etc. I use a lot of applications during the day and having quick and easy access to them is very important, but launching a program through the Windows start menu is just a hassle.
That is why I use a dock program called ObjectDock. Now some people will automatically assume I’m trying to emulate a Mac desktop (although you could if you want to), but that is not always the case. I use a dock to keep all my frequently used application shortcuts in one organized location. Another benefit is the ability to use “docklets”, or mini-applications, in the dock as well, and if you are not a fan of the Windows taskbar you could easily replace it with a dock for the ultimate minimal desktop.
Take a look at my desktop here.
So if you have a cluttered desktop, give ObjectDock a try. It’s a free download, although there is a Plus version that I would also recommend checking out.
[tags]objectdock, desktop, windows[/tags]