When comparing Avant Window Navigator vs Docky, the Slant community recommends Docky for most people. In the question“What are the best app launchers for UNIX-like systems?” Docky is ranked 5th while Avant Window Navigator is ranked 27th. The most important reason people chose Docky is:
For those that do not like the OSX dock look there is also a panel mode included that pushed the apps to the left side of the panel and elongates the dock to fill the entire bottom of the screen, just as a regular OS panel would.
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Pros
Pro Tons of plugins
AWN comes with a big selections of applets such as a CPU monitor or clock or trash bin. This means one can easily turn the docks functionality into that of a taskbar. There is even an app launcher applet that will group all of ones apps in one place just like a start menu.
Pro Easily customized
There is a wide array of setting available to theming and customizing the dock.
Pro Panel mode
For those that do not like the OSX dock look there is also a panel mode included that pushed the apps to the left side of the panel and elongates the dock to fill the entire bottom of the screen, just as a regular OS panel would.
Pro Drag and drop apps to the dock
Users can easily drag and drop apps to the dock for easy launching. Any app that is added will stay on the dock until removed manually. This makes for a great way to have all of ones most used apps in one place.
Pro Many themes
There are several themes installed with the dock by default that aare easily switched in the settings. What is even better is that there are many themes available online for download as well. With the best part being thatt he themes are simple .svg files that are easily editable in Inkscape to customize to how one wants.
Pro Highly Customisable.
Pro Plugin Docklets
Docky provides simple applications that run inside of the dock such as a clock, weather forecaster and CPU monitor. These provide an easy way to see information without having to open up separate apps.
Cons
Con Project is dead
Has not been update since 2013 and has been already pulled from many repos. While it still can be installed and works as it did in 2013, no more fixes or features are expected.
Con Removing Docky icon is not as easy as it should be
gconf editor is required in order to remove the Docky icon from the dock, which seems unnecessary as the setting exists, it should be in the app settings instead of hidden away in gconf.