The Dock is a graphical user interface feature commonly used in Mac OSX to launch applications and switch between running applications from the desktop. When a shortcut is highlighted, the icon for the software is magnified thus giving it an animated effect.

Here are five free popular tools that will allow you to replace the task bar and system tray of Windows Vista and XP with a Mac OSX-like Dock interface:

RocketDock: RocketDock is one of the most featuristic dock program available for Windows. It supports the following features:

+ Minimize windows to the dock
+ Real-time window previews in Vista
+ Running application indicators
+ Simple drag-n-drop interface
+ Multi-monitor support
+ Supports alpha-blended PNG and ICO icons
+ Icons zoom and transition smoothly
+ Auto-hide and Popup on mouse over
+ Positioning and layering options

RocketDock for Windows XP and Vista can be downloaded here

ObjectDock: ObjectDock is a free program from Stardock with support for skinning dock animations. Here are some of its features:

+ ObjectDock supports more than just programs and running tasks, it also supports “docklets”. Docks can be vertical or horizontal, on the top or bottom of the screen. They can be aligned to the middle of the screen or to the left or right.
+ The background (skin) of the dock can easily be changed with hundreds of additional skins from Wincustomize
+ Mouse-Over Zoom effects: When the mouse is moved over a given icon on the dock, it starts to grow. This effect can be a “narrow” effect or a “wide” effect to determine how many near-by icons are affected by the mouse over.
+ Change the icons of items on the dock with .ico or .png files
+ ObjectDock can hide the Windows Start bar if the user chooses and take over all of its functionality.

ObjectDock for Windows Vista and XP can be downloaded from here

RK Launcher: RK Launcher supports the following features:

+ Zooming: When the mouse is moved over the dock, all the icons will automatically magnify
+ Taskbar: Whenever a window is minimized, it will automatically be placed on the shortcutsbar and will be represented by a small image of the contents of this window.
+ RK Launcher will automatically place a shortcut on the launcher when an application is started for the first time.
+ Support for Themes, PNG’s and ICO’s
+ Customizable: From the number of icons that gets zoomed on mouseover to the background and icons

Download RK Launcher for Windows Vista and XP here

Orbit: Orbit is a dock replacement with a difference. The dock displays shortcuts around your mouse cursor in a circular format upon launch. Some features include:

+ Remains hidden and appears only when you invoke it (by deault, the middle button of your mouse)
+ Orbit appears around the mouse showing shortcuts, folders, links to web sites, image thumbnais and all the other items that you have added to it.
+ Icon animations include spinning, sliding, and zooming
+ You can also increase and decrease the levels of transparency for the dock
+ Use your own images for the icons, orbit circles and other features of Orbit thus providing full customization capability

Download Orbit for Windows here

YZ Dock: This is one of the lesser known dock replacement for Windows. Features include:

+ Support for changing icons for shortcuts on the dock
+ Drag and drop application executables and shortcuts
+ Change the background of the dock

This software may need to be run in the Windows XP SP2 compatibility mode on Windows Vista using the program compatibility wizard.

Download YZ Dock for Windows here