Working with KoolDock and KXDocker
ON THE DOCKS
If the KDE Kicker is not graphical, or spectacular enough for your taste,
you can dress up KDE with KoolDock or KXDocker.
The Kicker is the KDE command
base. Kicker launches programs,
switches desktops, and adds
applets to the panel. Besides these basic
functions, the program also offers a few
graphical tricks. Kicker supports transparency
and animated program launch
icons with a magnifying glass effect
when you hover the mouse over an icon.
Unfortunately, the default KDE taskbar
cannot match the graphical elegance of
the Mac OS X dock. Matias Fernandez,
Francisco Guidi, and Stefano wanted
more than the default design. Matias
and Francisco developed an add-on
KDE taskbar that resembles the
Mac OS X dock, and Stefano also
developed an OS X-like taskbar for
KDE. In this article. I’ll describe
KoolDock [1] and KXDocker [2]
and reveal how you can enhance
your KDE desktop with one of
these taskbars.
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
Red Hat Releases RHEL 10 Early
Red Hat quietly rolled out the official release of RHEL 10.0 a bit early.
-
openSUSE Joins End of 10
openSUSE has decided to not only join the End of 10 movement but it also will no longer support the Deepin Desktop Environment.
-
New Version of Flatpak Released
Flatpak 1.16.1 is now available as the latest, stable version with various improvements.
-
IBM Announces Powerhouse Linux Server
IBM has unleashed a seriously powerful Linux server with the LinuxONE Emperor 5.
-
Plasma Ends LTS Releases
The KDE Plasma development team is doing away with the LTS releases for a good reason.
-
Arch Linux Available for Windows Subsystem for Linux
If you've ever wanted to use a rolling release distribution with WSL, now's your chance.
-
System76 Releases COSMIC Alpha 7
With scores of bug fixes and a really cool workspaces feature, COSMIC is looking to soon migrate from alpha to beta.
-
OpenMandriva Lx 6.0 Available for Installation
The latest release of OpenMandriva has arrived with a new kernel, an updated Plasma desktop, and a server edition.
-
TrueNAS 25.04 Arrives with Thousands of Changes
One of the most popular Linux-based NAS solutions has rolled out the latest edition, based on Ubuntu 25.04.
-
Fedora 42 Available with Two New Spins
The latest release from the Fedora Project includes the usual updates, a new kernel, an official KDE Plasma spin, and a new System76 spin.