DockBarX 0.44 Can Run As Stand-Alone Dock, Gets Unity Quicklists, More

(DockBarX running as an Avant Window Navigator applet)

After four months of development, a new DockBarX version has finally been released: 0.44. Previously, DockBarX could run as a Avant Window Navigator / GNOME Panel applet but starting with this version, DockBarx works as a stand-alone dock too (run "dockx" to launch it), great for those running GNOME Shell or the classic GNOME session.

This new feature also comes with some options:

• you can position the dock on the left / bottom / right / top
• there are 3 modes: centered, panel or corner
• you can change the dock size
• multi-monitor support: you can specify the number of monitors via command line ("dockx --monitor 1").

(DockBarX running as a stand-alone dock)

There is still a lot of work to do for this new feature though: it doesn't have autohide, etc.


But that's not the only new feature in DockBarX 0.44. The new version also comes with:

• Unity quicklists support
• Another Unity-like feature - number shortcuts: for instance you can press SUPER+1 to select the first group, etc. But unlike Unity, the numbers are not displayed when holding the SUPER key.
• Improved keyboard shortcut handling
• Locked lists: "one click switch solution as long as you are prepared to sacrifice some screen real-estate. By selecting "Use locked list" from the group menu of a group with more than one window, you'll get a window list that stays open indefinitely".

Unfortunately there's a bug in Compiz 0.9.x which makes the DockBarX window previews very dark so if you use Ubuntu 11.04, the window preview feature will not work proprely (unless you use the downgraded Compiz). Also, the window previews feature won't work under GNOME Shell because DockBarX requires Compiz for this feature.

DockBarX screenshots

(DockX - Unity quicklists)

(Media Player controls available in DockBarX)

(DockBarX running as a GNOME Panel applet)

(DockX - recent documents)

Install DockBarx in Ubuntu

As usual, DockBarX is available in the main WebUpd8 PPA for Ubuntu 10.04, 10.10 and 11.04. It also works under Ubuntu 11.10 but not as a GNOME3 panel applet.

Add the PPA and install DockBarX 0.44 using the commands below:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install dockbarx dockbarx-themes-extra

To also install the Avant Window Navigator DockBarX applet, use the following command:

sudo apt-get install awn-applet-dockbarx

Then, to use DockBarX:

• with GNOME 2.x Panel: right click the panel, select "Add to panel" and add "DockBarX".
• with Avant Window Navigator: in the AWN preferences, add DockBarX to your dock
• as a stand-alone dock: press ALT + F2 and enter: "dockx".

For configuring DockBarx, a new "DockBarX Preference" entry should be available in your menu.

Arch Linux users can get DockBarX from AUR. Thanks to madek for the heads up!

If you don't use Ubuntu or Arch, download DockBarX via its GNOME-Look page.

Report any bugs you may find @ Launchpad.