TUAW readers may recall that when the new look of the desktop in Mac OS X Leopard was unveiled, the side-placement of the Dock didn't exactly set the world on fire. In fact, almost everyone decried it as horrific, with John Gruber (of Daring Fireball fame) writing "The lighting and "fake 3D sitting on a tray" visual effect look like crap with the Dock on the side." He (and others) couldn't have summed up the Mac community's sentiment better - or suggestions better.

Thankfully, Apple seems to be in a listening mood - are we seeing a return of 'the Apple we know and love' that our very own Mike Schramm talked of last week? - for MacRumors has revealed that the side-located Dock we loathed has been replaced with a 2D, black background Dock with a white border and it looks rather good (at least to me). I'm no fan of the 3D Leopard Dock in general so whilst I'm pleased that Apple has backtracked on one of the most talked-about design points in Leopard, I'm more interested in being able to apply the new look to a bottom-positioned dock. Some of us are never satisfied I guess.

Thanks Sebastiaan!