7stacks Does OS X Stacks In Windows 7 Style

Yaaaayy! It's like standalone stacks but in harmony with 7!

F3N4TiK

@DarthGator: My point is that you're wrong. Backing up all your data and then reinstalling is just another option to defragmentation. Maybe you did read the article and you're just not smart enough to understand the concept. Don't that Mac's can't be defragmented or that Apple only recommends backing up and reinstalling your OS. Because that's not what they said.
And the reason why I made the assumption that you hadn't of read the article was because if anyone with half of a brain would have read that then they would have realized that you can defragment a Mac, you just need a third party app.

mfischer579

Indeed... or if you want fast access to a folder/files just drag a folder to your quicklaunch bar... you can open it anytime you want with one click, and you can even drag and drop files into it, right on the bar... unlike this program and many other stack like programs. These are just system clutter.

SaranyaMoth

@libertao:

wait, doesnt the article say:

"Application launcher 7stacks adds the Stacks functionality of Mac's OS X to Windows 7"
and
"7stacks is a free download for Windows 7"

David Poole

@mfischer579:

At least you saw the point (even though you wonder why earlier) yet you still "run your mouth off". Then you make the assumption that I haven't read the article? If you haven't gone through this process multiple times then STFU.

DarthGator

@nikaru: You sir are an idiot. You don't offer anything of value to the conversation, except personal insults. So, there's one for you too, windows moron. Now go re-boot your PC and clean up your registry.

mario_grgic

@DarthGator: Yes I have defragmented my hard drives in OS X. Just last night in fact. iDefrag is a great tool to do it.

Apple also says that some OS X use cases may require defragmenting tools, but they will not recommend any one vendor, and do advise that you have to be careful since it's so easy to screw up and corrupt your data if the third party tool does not work properly.

On the other hand, the recommended practice is to format your drive and put data back.

This may sound radical, but you have to understand we are not talking about system partition here. IF you are into photography or video, then you will have 3 other hard drives, or external storage where you keep your video files or raw images. IF fragmentation becomes a problem, the solution is to move the data to spare, format and put it back. This is much much faster than defragmenting, since defragmenting those large video files takes forever.

mario_grgic

I love windows 7 ..... i like OS X too but i hate the way apple talks about Windows .... they talk as if they haven't ripped off anything from windows.

The simple thing like running applications in separate "windows" comes originally from Bill Gates ( windows ) every OS does that .....

gankmeplz

@DarthGator: You should probably learn how to read. "there's a chance the disks could be fragmented. In this case, you might benefit from defragmentation, which can be performed with some third-party disk utilities" Then they say if that doesn't work to try the backup wipe HD and reinstall. But that's after the defrag..
And WTF does that have to do with the topic? Yes you need a third party app to do the defrag but as the article clearly says you probably wont need to defrag if you're running OS X. Try reading the full article before you just run your mouth off next time.

mfischer579

@kseve: Erm let's draw parallels between everything you mentioned and the equivalent on OSX. Launchy is to Windows Search what Quicksilver is to Spotlight... Do I really need to continue?

@DiscoZombie: You don't know what you are talking about kiddo. I hate to say this but your fanboyism has blinded you from the truth. Ok, eat your Apple now. I hope it fucking nourishes you.

nikaru

@DiscoZombie: Since when the fuck are you the authority on what features the OS should include? Maybe not everyone wants the same stupid piece of shit thing you do, idiot.

@FabianArmstrong: you could always just make a new taskbar toolbar using the library of your choice as the location.

Interesting that this feature is so notable when something nearly identical has been hidden in Windows since Win95.

In Windows, you can right-click the taskbar to add toolbars. Add the Links bar. Right-click Links and open it. Create a folder inside the Links bar and delete all the other icons (or move them into other folders). Add shortcuts to documents or programs inside the newly created folder. Customize the icon of the folder if you'd like. It may take a log off / log on to make it appear, but your folder icon will now appear on the task bar. Clicking the icon gives you a menu, not unlike the Start or Stacks menus.

The reason this has to be done in the Links bar is that the same process using QuickLaunch causes Windows to just open the folder on the screen instead of making it a pop-up menu.

Works well. It's free. Customizable. Works in any version of Windows.

BraytonAK

@DiscoZombie: Do I have to mention Growl for you? Or Caffeine? Or ExpanDrive? Those are features I would love to have built-in in OS X, but not everybody would.

Microsoft should however update that toolbar function to something a bit prettier, since it essentially does the same thing as 7stacks. That being said, I really don't like the look of 7stacks. The glass stuff is fine, but it aren't that 7-ish. It would be a lot nicer if it had simply adapted the jumplist look.

@Buddha916: i cant help but agree, if they came out with a decent shell OS that just had hardware tie-ins and modules i would pay good money for it. now days OS systems come with so much pre-installed junk (most of it can not be removed without long hours of weeding through tons of files and folders.)

give me an empty system and a few free-ware programs (firefox, Digsby, Thunderbird, MediaMonkey, and some compatible firewall/anti-virus) and im more than set.

@kseve: I also install 3rd party apps in OS X and (don't even get me started on) Ubuntu. Nothing does everything everyone wants it to. That's what 3rd party apps (on all platforms) are for. OS programs, Smartphone apps, Firefox addons, it's everywhere dude. the fact that his rant only consists of Windows, as though there is no need for apps in other systems makes his point rather invalid and leads people as evidenced above to believe he's just complaining to complain.

@kseve: Things like that are not needed. They exist for those that want the additional functionality. Microsoft designs their OS around the greatest need, including features they feel the majority of users can easily take advantage of.

@More Awesomer Turtles: +1

@Wewtaco: he does kinda have a point i mean most of the time you end up installing lots of apps and customizing windows to get it to function the way ud like, installing things like launchy, keepass and many of the other apps mentioned on lifehacker shouldnt be needed, yes you can always argue that you can use the windows search and the other features built into the OS but they dont come offer many of the options and stability you would get with a third party app.

@DiscoZombie: I don't want this kind of crap built into the OS. I don't want or need this kind of useless eye candy (that doesn't even look good). I'm glad this isn't built in.

@DiscoZombie:
Have you ever tried to defrag Mac OSX? Apple tells you to wipe your disk and reinstall ([support.apple.com]). What kind of crap is that?

DarthGator

@Mason Wiley:because they still cling to the thought that the OS is the most important thing on a computer.

The right OS for the job should be totally transparent and not get in your way at all and sinply allow the end user to open the desired APPLICATION as quickly and easily as possible.

but that's what we get when we have people running around using computers that honestly shouldn't be allowed too.

these are the same people that have problems with virii and trojans.

Buddha916

@BishopBlaize: Or Launchy, Executor, SlickRun on windows, Quicksilver on Mac. They're all awesome, everyone should have one ;_;

@CaptJackDaniels: I knew of w7center, not the other one though...

Basically macosxhints is only tips and tricks and that is it. No news about anything else, it's pretty sweet, and something I haven't seen in the Windows world in ages.

Aaaahh, iv had it with icons. too many icons everywhere - desktop icons, taskbar icons, quicklauch icons, start button icons, and now icons _within_ icons.

Give me gnome-do anyday....

(bish grumps off to his room)

@More Awesomer Turtles: Agreed.

Toribor

@DiscoZombie: Honestly speaking, stack and grid kinda suck. Stacks are hard to open in finder; grids can be really slow. If you ask me; macs are either more likeable or hateable. With Windows SEVEN (not others) it's more stable..

Leafy

@UnderLoK: I'm not familiar with macosxhints unfortunately, but here are a couple of feeds i follow that often have tips and other interesting windows 7 news:

[forum.thewindowsclub.com]
[windows7center.com]

CaptJackDaniels

@The How-To Geek: hope he wears his seat belt, the auto-ban doesn't have a speed limit...

The Windows taskbar is still better than OSX's Dock/Finder Solution. As much as I am a fan of the Mac, it could actually learn a thing or two from Windows about intuitively launching applications and making the filesystem more user-friendly.

s8ist

that looks nice. good and clean, i like it...

@libertao: In a way, one can use Jump Lists to more-or-less duplicate this feature for every single icon on your taskbar.

@DiscoZombie: Windows 7 is surprisingly stable, believe it or not. This particular functionality is mostly built into the OS already to begin with, as Jump Lists.

Meanwhile, Microsoft can't implement every single little UI construct its users request. People complain about bloat enough as it is, and they're trying to improve that. Would you rather they get back into feature creep?

@Steve: First, that's not a comparison at all. It's just two tiny paragraphs.

Secondly, your non-stop spamming of your blog URL triggered the auto-ban.

[lifehacker.com]

@TheMacAdvocate: Why do some people act like any other OS than their OS of choice is completely awful? I use Windows, but I've screwed around in Ubuntu and Linux Mint, and I wouldn't mind using OS X. I wouldn't be sitting there acting like I'm in unbearable pain. I'm genuinely interested to know why people do this.

Mason Wiley

@Wewtaco: Wow, dude, he was just expressing his (perfectly valid, well backed up) opinion, there's no need to get defensive about it. Imagining fanboyism is many orders of magnitude worse than simply being a fanboy, imo.

Anyone know of a site on par with macosxhints for 7? No bs, just tips and tricks...

@Wewtaco: 4. If all 3rd party programs don't improve on the operating system on Mac, then what does Parallels do?

Wewtaco

@DiscoZombie: 1. You don't.
2. You don't.
3. You're an asshole
4.

Wewtaco

Here is a comparison of 7stacks and StandaloneStack in Windows 7. It lists differences and helps you choose the right one: [www.jashsayani.com]

I'm about as unabashed a fanboy as there is‚ but I have Typinator‚ Shovebox‚ DefaultFolderX and Dropbox running at login.

Guess my point is all OSs use customization to make them more usable. I say this even though I'd rather be gutshot w/a small caliber firearm than use Windows for more than 20 minutes.

TheMacAdvocate

@DiscoZombie: are you talking about win95? because everything you just said IS built into the OS. You should do research before saying retarded things

@DiscoZombie: I know what you mean. You don't have to keep the 3rd party stuff updated if you don't want to, though :P

I love this way of doing it, let me tailor my OS to me, thanks! :D

@DiscoZombie: Sigh.
Another fanboy that blindly stumbles around trying to sound intelligent about an operating system he really doesn't understand past the UI.

Both 7 and soon to release Snow Leopard have their pro's and cons.

SloYerRoll

@CaptJackDaniels: I do enjoy libraries, and I have begun to use them to group things. However, I like keeping my desktop clutter-free; so the idea of having to open up a new window to access my libraries, rather than just clicking on a pop-up jumplist drives my OCD brain crazy.

FabianArmstrong

@libertao,

The idea behind 7Stacks and StandAloneStack are mostly for pinning "groups" of folders or "groups" of programs to the taskbar where only one icon is used.

For instance, let's say you have a group of design-type apps like photoshop, premiere, dreamweaver, paint, gimp, etc. You could individually pin each of those programs to the taskbar, but the taskbar would get really cluttered. With 7Stacks and StandAloneStack, you can put all of those design-type apps into a folder, and then just pin that folder to the taskbar, leaving the taskbar less-cluttered.

FabianArmstrong

@CaptJackDaniels: edit: **a bit cluttered

CaptJackDaniels

@libertao: although I agree that this is a handy built in feature, I find it can get a big cluttered, between having many different things pinned in the explorer in addition to the explorer displaying several recent items/places.

CaptJackDaniels

@DiscoZombie: Uh try Right-click on the task bar > New Toolbar > browse to choose any folder you want.

Voila, built in to Windows already.

mjschmidt

@FabianArmstrong: Yea, jumplists definitely seem to be a bit underdeveloped, but based on madigan82's comment below about libraries, I think maybe I'm just ignorant to more efficient ways of setting this up using only Win7.

Reading this article is actually the first I've heard of "Standalonestack", but it sounds like its also worth checking out. Unfortunately im at work right now, so I'm going to have to be patient for a few more hours. Our work computers are running XP with....IE6....
its rough.

CaptJackDaniels

@libertao: I did not know about this. There is so many little features like this in Windows 7 that people will probably never know about.

madigan82

@DiscoZombie: Wow, what a hilariously misguided rant considering this function IS built in.

libertao

I don't understand, you can already pin folders to the explorer icon on the taskbar no problem, no 3rd party startup program necessary.

libertao

@DiscoZombie:

Every computer will come with headaches, even a Macintosh.

An army of third-party applications? I am not sure about everyone else, but the only applications I maintain are Firefox, foobar2000, and a few of the other applications that I use often and modify frequently.

TimothyH

@David Gilling: mmh good it wasn't as long as I thought it was going to be =)

David Gilling

CaptJackDaniels, I agree completely. I had objectdock prior to installing Windows 7. Once I upgraded, I got rid of objectdock, and instead, I used standalonestack2 so that I could create a "school" folder, an "apps" folder for my favorite programs, etc.

I really enjoy the idea of jumplists in general. However, I wish there was more functionality included (like the native ability to make your own). Standalonestack2 and 7Stacks provides this. I hope the Windows 7 team takes note of all of these 3rd party solutions and builds some more functionality into the final version of Windows 7 when released.

FabianArmstrong

@DiscoZombie: I think there is a similar function built in...

I'm now using Ubuntu so I can't check, but if you right-click on the task bar or whatever it's called, and choose add toolbar (or again whatever it's called) something pretty similar comes out (I used to use it instead of the desktop, as I hate all the icons that create confusion, so I would hide them all and if I needed to access any docs from the desktop easily I would use that menu).

This solution is less cute then this one, but it's built in the OS. But anyway, what's the problem with installing a little program that adapts the look of the OS to your needs? Mac isn't perfect, anyway. And I think the ability to customize a program or OS is something positive anyway.

Sorry for long post =)

David Gilling

@DiscoZombie: The reason things like this exist is because not everyone agrees with you as to what the best UI experience is. Some people don't like this thing, some people don't like temperature sensors and RAM counters on their desktops, some people don't want see-through browsers. For those that do, there are third-party apps to make it so.

As for crashing and being unusable, I don't think I've had my desktop or laptop "crash" in the last year. Maybe you have some bad hardware or were running apps that caused problems, or are still bitter about the days of Win95.

korpo53

I find the new Explorer in Windows 7 adds a ton of functionality. There is a place for tools such as this and StandaloneStack (which I used for XP). But honestly with the ability to create libraries and shortcuts in Explorer, you get similar functionality (easy access to frequently used locations) without the need for 3rd party programs.

madigan82

Excellent! This was the only feature that's kept me holding on to ObjectDock (with stack docklet.) This will be really helpful during the school year when I'll have one "school" taskbar item that stacks folders for different classes. I also have a "multimedia" stack with different photo/video/audio editing software and converters that I use fairly regularly.

I agree with DiscoZombie; it would have been nice if this feature was built in to Win7, but oh well. As long as this is less demanding than ObjectDock, I'll be happily making the change.

(i am aware that ObjetDock really isn't that demanding, and has other features and so on, im just saying that the stack docklet was the only feature that I personally was interested in.)

CaptJackDaniels

*looks.
I hate not being able to edit my posts.

why...The way it look by default fits in great with the rest of the OS. I don't see the use for it, but I am sure someone else does.

This is exactly the kind of thing that always bothered me about Windows. This kind of thing should be BUILT-IN to the OS. There is no excuse for needing third-party resource eating bandaids for basic OS operation such as this.

The third-party software I use on OS X is all actual software created for the specialized purposes they serve, such as Adobe, Intuit, Panic!, etc.... not for fixing what the OS should be doing in the first place.

Sorry if that comes off as fanboyishness, and maybe it is, but that was always my most major complaint back in my Windows days, that I had to spend most of my day running extra apps just to keep the OS functioning. (or from crashing or becoming totally unusable)

For the prices they charge, there should be two things that go without question:

1. The damn thing should work without chronic headaches.
2. I shouldn't have to maintain an army of third-party apps to complete my OS.

Windows fails on both points.

-2 cents.

DiscoZombie