Watch it in Action:

RocketDock is a smoothly animated, alpha blended application launcher. It provides a nice clean interface to drop shortcuts on for easy access and organization. With each item completely customizable there is no end to what you can add and launch from the dock.
Now with added Taskbar support your minimized windows can appear as icons on the dock. This allows for better productivity and accessibility.

Features:

Minimize windows to the dock
Real-time window previews in Vista
Running application indicators
Simple drag-n-drop interface
Multi-monitor support
Supports alpha-blended PNG and ICO icons
Icons zoom and transition smoothly
Auto-hide and Popup on mouse over
Positioning and layering options
Fully customizable
Completely Portable
ObjectDock Docklet support
Compatible with MobyDock, ObjectDock, RK Launcher, and Y'z Dock skins
Runs great on slower computers
Unicode compliant
Supports many languages and can easily be translated

And best of all... its FREE!!!

The downloadlink is http://rocketdock.com/

Pstart: a real freeware timesaver

PStart doesn't neccessarily have to be installed to your hard disk. Execute the installer and choose: you can install PStart to your local hard drive or a removable device.

Unlike Windows shortcuts, PStart uses relative paths, when installed as a portable application. If your USB key drive gets another drive letter when you insert it into another computer, your portable applications still can be started properly. This means you can also use PStart to start applications you burn to a CD (and don't know the drive letter either).

Of course not all applications are portable, but more and more software vendors notice, that people like the idea of carrying their applications with them. All future Pegtop applications will be portable (be patient). And there are portable versions of Firefox, Thunderbird, or even software development suites like Eclipse.

PStart is 100% freeware, which means you can use it without having to pay, without any advertisements, and without other disadvantages (no spyware, no hidden costs).

Access all items easily with the PStart tray menu. You can create any use defined folders and subfolders you like. The tray menu is highly configurable. You can define mouse sensors or hot keys to let the menu pop up without clicking at the tray icon, If you like you can even hide the tray icon completely.