Nex: "Why do you use it at all if you hate it so much." Desktop Support is my job, and I'm regularly setting up Macs using the standard image we have. Of course, a plain finder is used on this MacOS image. With my own Mac, I prefer to use a minimum of tools that take the place of finder elements. Makes it easier to stay familiar with what I have to support. I do use Dragthing and Tinkertool, (and am considering Quicksilver) but would be happier not to have to.

Also I may not like the dock, but it does have it's uses. Would be nice to see at a glance what is running. And tiny icons isn't a good solution from a Fitt's Law perspective: wider targets are much easier to hit, and won't take up so much valuable screen real-estate. A half-hidden dock is the only reasonable solution I can think of there ..it's either that or a Windows-like icon+test taskbar like thing. (ugh) :)