From the outset the new Dock in OSX Leopard was a controversial move by Apple and it was obvious there would be immediate moves by some to either mod it to their preferences or remove it altogether.
The hack to remove the 3D effect was quickly discovered. Just type :-
% defaults write com.apple.dock no-glass -boolean YES
% killall Dock
Or
% defaults write com.apple.dock no-glass -boolean NO
% killall Dock
To enable it again.
If however you are in the “like it” camp and just want the ability to modify and customise your Dock there are a number of apps springing up to make this task simple. Over at PimpMyDock you can download a small app that allows you to import Dock themes and apply them to your setup. There are a number of themes on PimpMyDock or alternatively you can hop over to LeopardDocks.com where there is already a large selection of pre-built designs to chose from, everything from Piano keys to Pink. Something for every taste in fact.
The biggest problem I'm finding with the new dock is that half the icon is over the bottom of any open windows. This makes it really hard for resizing windows and accessing controls.
Good to see a good Mac site from Shropshire!