Hi guys! As you might remember, I made a post called “Who put the Mac in the Ubuntu?” in which I explained how to install Cairo Dock. Well, as of today, Cairo Dock is now available on the Ubuntu Repositories, so no Software Sources needed. Just open Synaptic and search for Cairo Dock! Remember to install the plugins too!
The new version (1.6.2) has a few new themes, and two new applets “Stack” and “Slider”.
Stack is basically a port of MAC OS X’s dock Stack feature. You can put files (songs, videos, pictures), URLs, text, etc for easy access. It stacks the files you drag&drop on it for easy and fast access!
Slider is basically a mini-photo-album in which you select a specific folder/directory with pictures on it and turn them into a slideshow in your dock!
This version has some under-the-hood fixes that make it run smoother and faster, besides it now supports themes submitted by people. As far as I know this feature is not yet fully implemented. I still haven’t found where the user-submitted themes are.
Anyways, this is an absolute MUST-HAVE for any Ubuntuer! (or Ubunturero in spanish).
Feel free to leave your feedback here!
Note: You still need to install Compiz to let Cairo Dock be as pretty as possible, with 3D and transparencies!
Ubuntu Dawn 
I just downloaded the Intrepid beta, which does have cairo in the repos, but it’s version 1.5.5.3. WTF? Yeah it’s beta, but that’s going back a bit isn’t it?
I just downloaded the Intrepid beta, which does have cairo in the repos, but it’s version 1.5.5.3. WTF? Yeah it’s beta, but that’s going back a bit isn’t it?
Yeah, sorry about that. If you noticed almost every single program in Synaptic is old and most times a lot of versions older than the current release of each program, that happens because Canonical and/or the Ubuntu Team check compatibility and stability of all programs before putting them on the repos.
This usually means you’ll get a 100% working program if you download it from the repos, but you might end up using an old version.
In Cairo Dock’s case you can easily go around this by adding the software sources lines (in red above) and restarting the computer. Then you’ll get the new version of Cairo!
Keep visiting!
By the way, I’m using the newest Cairo Dock and it runs flawlessly in Intrepid. No problems here!