Rainmeter & RocketDock - Anyone Here Use Either One?

[Baasha]

I came across a thread on Overclock[dot]net where members where showing off their desktops and some of them were absolutely beautiful.

It turns out that many of these beautiful desktops use a small program (or two) called Rainmeter and/or RocketDock.

I looked into it and the customization options are limitless. My only concern is, are these types of programs "bloatware" or are they safe to use without it affecting performance of the system?

Anyone here use them? What are your thoughts?

 

[lxskllr]

I use ObjectDock and RocketDock both on my Vista box, and have no issues whatsoever. I like 'em.

 

[SockHaser]

I use them both...very nice programs

 

[CKTurbo128]

I use RocketDock. It's extremely lightweight and it works well as a dock.

I'm currently testing out Rainmeter at the moment; there are several nice skins for it. The open-ended customization is also a nice feature.

 

[Baasha]

I use ObjectDock and RocketDock both on my Vista box, and have no issues whatsoever. I like 'em.

Why would you use both ObjectDock & RocketDock? Which one do you like better? I am using RocketDock now and I really like it.

I tried Rainmeter but my habit of going to the start menu is too strong.. lol..

And, do you konw how I can lock my Windows taskbar and keep the RocketDock above it? Right now, I have the taskbar as "auto-hide" but I would like to use both the taskbar and the RocketDock.

 

[pcslookout]

I am having trouble figuring out why anyone would use either one?

 

[SockHaser]

Why would you use both ObjectDock & RocketDock? Which one do you like better? I am using RocketDock now and I really like it.

I tried Rainmeter but my habit of going to the start menu is too strong.. lol..

And, do you konw how I can lock my Windows taskbar and keep the RocketDock above it? Right now, I have the taskbar as "auto-hide" but I would like to use both the taskbar and the RocketDock.

You can set the edge offset in the rocketdock settings, mine is set to 30px atm and it works nicely.

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

I use both Rocketdock and Rainmeter. I started using Rocketdock in XP, when the search function wasn't that great, and it's stuck with me into W7. Granted, I can just press the Windows key and search, but I just can't get into the habit of it...and it looks pretty cool.

I just got Rainmeter recently, I use it more to monitor my system and news rather than launch apps and stuff. It's still a work in progress, but I think it's coming along nicely.

And, do you konw how I can lock my Windows taskbar and keep the RocketDock above it? Right now, I have the taskbar as "auto-hide" but I would like to use both the taskbar and the RocketDock.

Right-click ==> Dock Settings ==> Position, and change the edge offset. I think the W7 taskbar is 52 pixels or something.

 

[lxskllr]

Why would you use both ObjectDock & RocketDock? Which one do you like better? I am using RocketDock now and I really like it.

I like having 2 docks. I keep 1 hidden at the top, and the other hidden on the side. I don't have a strong preference for either. Maybe ObjectDock is a touch better, but not enough to worry about. I use them exclusively to launch applications. I have the Windows taskbar as a tray. I'm not a fan of using docks as a system tray.