Leopard Stacks...no hierarchy needed

The following entry was originally posted on a MacLife forum.

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One of the things that really gets under my skin is the "Start" button in Windows, having to navigate multiple levels of hierarchy just to start an application. I am not going to use any utility in OS X that attempts to emulate that.

DockFun! was a great Tiger utility, it dynamically changes the OS X Dock based on categories that are setup in advance. I had multiple docks setup on my system with various applications, including a home dock, a work dock, a video project dock, etc. The docks did not necessarily reflect the application hierarchy that was setup in the Applications folder. My goal was to keep every doc as flat as possible, to enable quick application launching.

Unfortunately, DockFun! is not compatible with Leopard Stacks, but I was able to setup similar functionality using Stacks:

1. Create a subfolder in the Applications folder and name it "Stacks".
2. Within the Stacks folder, create a subfolder for every application category required (e.g. "home", "work", "video projects").
3. Copy application aliases (click-and-drag with command-alt) to each of the category folders (those created in step 2).
4. Add custom overlay drawers to the category folders as shown here.
5. Click and drag the category folders onto the dock.

I currently have 13 favorite applications in my dock along with 14 separate stacks/categories that are easily recognizable and quick to navigate.

Is Stacks perfect? No, but it is a great start. For some reason, Stacks in the beta release of Leopard looked different than it did in the final release. I would love to be able to scroll through all Stack items using my mouse scroll button, regardless of how items are in each Stack.