Avant-window-navigator (awn) is a macos x like panel for the gnome desktop written in c. in addition to launchers that can be dragged onto the bar, it features a taskbar that behaves similarly to the mac osx dock. the window navigator uses the composite extension for transparency and other effects.
The best dock for Mint MATE, avoids the flashy and buggy options of complex ones like Cairo-Dock, but not as limited as Plank. Now works on Mint 17 MATE.