When Apple announced that they’ll be bringing iOS-style homescreens called “Launchpad” to Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, the first thing that came to my mind is “Goodbye, dock.” Sure, the Dock won’t be going anywhere when 10.7 hits the street. However, I think having a new, more consistant and elegant way of launching and viewing your apps will make the dock vestigial. As we all know, Apple isn’t at all hesitant to throw away old technology and move forward.
Look at how it is described on Apple’s site:
The Launchpad gives you instant access to your apps — iPad style. Just click the Launchpad icon in your Dock. Your open windows fade away, replaced by an elegant, full-screen display of all the apps on your Mac. It takes just a swipe to see multiple pages of apps, and you can arrange apps any way you like by dragging an app icon to a new location or by grouping apps in folders. Downloaded an app from the App Store? Your new app automatically appears on the Launchpad, ready to blast off. — Apple
Apple is embracing gestures very strongly, and that was made very clear during the “Back to the Mac” event. Dedicated displays like the Dock could easily be replaced by a HUD, and triggered by gestures. What do you think? Is the dock dead? Sound off in the comment section of this post.
