Better Way To Show Running Applications in OS X Lion

I'm looking to either find a better method (visually) to show running applications on my Macbook Pro. The easiest method would be to increase the size (or make more prominent) of the running program indicator(s) that are present on OS X dock:

Alternatively I would be open to some other method that provides the same "at a glance" feedback as to what is running without having to manually launch a process.

I have looked at a lot of Apple related blogs and Google'd around to no avail. I could obviously increase my stock resolution of 1920 x 1200 to something larger but overall I am very happy with this resolution so I would prefer an alternate method. I also really have no desire to hook up to a larger monitor.

Solution 1:

The easiest way to do this (in my mind) is to not have any applications permanently stored in your Dock. In other words, the only applications down there are running ones. (This is what I do, and it works great; I can at-a-glance see what's running without having to use cmd-tab).

That being said, OS X is moving in the direction of "you shouldn't have to care". Things like Sudden Termination and User Interface preservation are aiming to make it so that a process can disappear silently in the background, but quickly come back when you need it.

Solution 2:

The easiest method for foreground applications is to press ⌘-TAB. It requires interaction, but it is visual and it doesn't take reworking Apple's interface.

Another approach is to simply enlarge the size of the dock.

System Preferences -> Dock -> Size