Iconic MacOS Dock Celebrates 25th Birthday

Dock macOS has just celebrated his 25th birthday (photo: x @MacMike1000)

JAKARTA - Apple's macOS product, has gone through many changes since it was first released, but one of the elements that persisted and became its hallmark is Dock. This feature allows users to access their favorite apps with just one click. Dock macOS has just celebrated its 25th birthday, and there is an interesting story behind its development.

James Thomson, the developer of the popular scientific calculator app PCalc, is one of the people behind Dock's creation. When Apple developed the first version of Mac OS X to replace the classic Mac OS 9, Thomson worked at the company. He shared the story about the project on his personal blog.

Dock was first introduced to the public by Steve Jobs at the Macworld Expo on January 5, 2000. At the same event, Jobs also showed off Aqua's interface for the first time.

"At the end of the presentation, he showed Dock. You all know Dock, it's been at the bottom of your Mac screen for as long as it feels like forever," Thomson said, quoted by VOI from 9to5mac.

The early version of Dock on Mac OS X Developer Preview 3 looks different from the final version. Instead of the icon floating on the shelf, Dock was originally just a row of square icons. My job is to turn the prototype from Bas Ording into a functioning code, "said Thomson.

Before working at Apple, Thomson developed an application called DragThing that functions like Dock. This app allows users to add shortcuts to apps, folders, and documents, as well as keep them visible on desktop. DragThing caught Apple's attention and helped Thomson get a job there.

The Dock project is highly kept secret. I was told that only six people had seen it, and if it leaked, they would know it was because of me, "said Thomson. In fact, there are rumors that a screenshot from Aqua will include the device's MAC address to track the source of the leak.

However, Thomson's job was not without obstacles. He lived in Ireland at the time and worked at Apple's office in Cork. Steve Jobs, known to be a perfectionist, asked Thomson to move to Cupertino. Thomson refused to move, so he had to go back and forth between Ireland and the US.

After Macworld 2000, Thomson was given an ultimatum to move to Cupertino permanently or lose his job. He chose to resign.

Although the Thomson code is not used in the final version, Dock remains an important element of macOS to this day. In fact, the Dock concept was also adopted on iPhone and iPad devices.

"This experience taught me a lot of things, made me meet a lot of friends, and motivated me to revive DragThing for Mac OS X, which was very popular," said Thomson.

For those of you who want to know the full story, visit the James Thomson blog for other interesting details about Dock's history