There’s always been a rivalry between Apple’s MacOS and Microsoft Windows. Over the years MacOS has held the reputation for the most user-friendly interface, with Windows considered the more utilitarian system. Modern Windows has come a long way from those early days and really is on par now with what Apple has to offer.
However, after all these years Microsoft still doesn’t provide a Mac-style dock in their operating system. But there are third-party options you can try if you really want a dock on your PC.
RocketDock
RocketDock has been around for a long time now. In fact, the developers who made it haven’t released a new version since 2008! Yet somehow people still love this spunky little app launcher.
Vanilla will never nag you to upgrade, but if you’d like, you can unlock the Pro version to reach peak Mac minimalism. Perfect your menu bar by completely hiding icons; Hide any app icon from your Mac’s menu bar; Compatible with light and dark menu bars; Automatically hide icons again after five seconds; Start Vanilla automatically when you.
RocketDock still looks pretty good despite more than a decade without a facelift. You can however give it different skins, even using ones from other launchers such RK Launcher and Objectdock.
Adding and removing shortcuts is dead easy. It does exactly what you expect a dock to do, without any fuss and bloat. It’s also free under a Creative Commons license, so everyone should try it at least once.
Launchy
Does Launchy really count as a dock? Perhaps not quite, but this smart little application launcher is too good to leave out of a list like this one. Launchy presents itself as a little window with a text-entry box. It indexes your Start Menu as well as documents and folders. You can set up your own shortcuts and launch what you need with a keystroke.
Launchy is free and open source, so anyone can try it without any sort of obligation. There are also skins available to customize its look.
While the software is free, the developer does provide the opportunity for people to donate some cash, which would be a nice gesture.
XWindows Dock
While most docks are inspired by what MacOS has done with the idea, XWindows Dock is a straight-up clone of the Apple software.
Like RocketDock, this dock hasn’t really been updated in a while and doesn’t seem to officially support Windows 10. Saying that, the dock worked quite well on our Windows 10 installation with one small issue. The dock shows up behind the taskbar.
Thisis easily fixed by setting the taskbar to auto-hide itself. This hasthe added benefit of really giving your desktop that MacOS look, butsome people may be annoyed by this issue.
Since this is a clone of the Mac dock, the way it looks and functions is pretty similar. It has however been 8 years since the last stable release, so a future update may render it non-functional. For now however, this is the closest you’ll get to the classic MacOS dock.
Winstep Nexus
WinstepNexus is one of the few dock apps that officially supports Windows10. There’s a free and paid version. It’s the free version thatwe’re referring to here.
This dock is like the basic concept from MacOS, but it gives it a real Windows flavor. It has reflective icons, support for animated icons and of course skins. It really is a very pretty dock with all manner of special effects. It’s also the only dock app with support for Windows 10’s Universal Windows Platform standard.
We also like the support for in-dock widgets and easy placement of the dock itself. Multi-monitor support is excellent, with high-DPI rendering and placement of the dock on any monitor. The Ultimate version does offer quite a bit of extra functionality, but for most users the free personal edition will be more than enough to cover regular use.
Circle Dock
CircleDock is the most innovative dock here, with its radial design lookingcompletely different from anything else we’ve seen. This is alsonot a persistent dock. Instead you press a hotkey and then the docwill appear wherever your mouse pointer is. Mac changing start up apps windows 10.
Mac App Bar Doesn't Hide Windows 10
It’s an innovative idea and very functional, but the software was never developed to the point where it matched the likes of RocketDock, feature for feature. Still, if you like experimental UI ideas, Circle Dock is well worth trying out.
A Docking Good Time
One of the best thing about Windows is that if you don’t like something about it, you can change it with the right knowledge or tools. While Windows 10 seems to have put a damper on full UI replacements such as the venerable Rainmeter, it’s still possible to make yourself at home in smaller ways.
What happens when you hide an item?
When you hide an item, it won't appear in your library on any devices that you use with your Apple ID, unless you already downloaded the item onto those devices.
If you use Family Sharing, family members won't see items that you hide, unless they downloaded the item before you hid it.
If you or a family member downloaded the item onto another device before you hid it, you can delete the item from that device. Learn how to delete music, movies, and TV shows or delete books.
Hiding an item doesn't hide the record of purchase. You can still see the item in your purchase history.
How to hide music, movies, and TV shows
- On your computer, open the Apple Music app, Apple TV app, or iTunes.
- In the menu bar at the top of your computer screen or at the top of the iTunes window, click Account, then click Purchased. (If you use Family Sharing, you might see Family Purchases instead of Purchased.)
- Depending on what you want to hide, click Music, Movies, or TV Shows at the top of the window, then click All. All of your purchased items appear.
- Find the item that you want to hide. Hold your pointer over the item until the hide purchase button appears. Click the hide purchase button .
How to unhide music, movies, and TV shows
To open the Apple Music app and sign in to your Account Information page, click this link: View My Account. Or follow these steps:
- On your computer, open the Apple Music app, Apple TV app, or iTunes.
- In the menu bar at the top of your computer screen or at the top of the iTunes window, click Account, then click View My Account.
- On the page that appears, scroll to the iTunes in the Cloud section. Next to Hidden Purchases, click Manage.
- Depending on what you want to unhide, click Music, Movies, or TV Shows at the top of the window.
- Find the item that you want to unhide, then click Unhide under it.
How to hide books and audiobooks
- Open the Books app on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.
- Tap Library.
- Tap the More icon below the book or audiobook that you want to hide. If the item is part of a series, tap the series, choose an individual book, then tap More .
- Tap Remove.
- Tap Hide Book or Hide Audiobook.
If you don't see Hide Book or Hide Audiobook, look for Remove Download, which removes the book from your device, or Delete Everywhere, which removes the book from iCloud and all your devices.
You can also hide books in the Books app on a Mac. Click Book Store, click Featured, click Purchased in the Quick Links on the right, then click All. Hover your pointer over a book and click the Hide purchase button that appears.
How to unhide books and audiobooks
- Open the Books app.
- Tap Reading Now.
- Tap the sign-in button or your photo at the top of the screen, then tap Manage Hidden Purchases.
- Find the item that you want to unhide, then tap Unhide next to the item.
To unhide books in the Books app on Mac, click Store > View My Apple ID, scroll to Hidden Purchases, then click Manage.
Learn more
- You can also hide and unhide apps.
- Or you can delete apps from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.
- Hiding an app doesn't cancel a subscription. Learn how to view, change, or cancel your subscriptions.