How to get rid of the "ears" in the bottom of the screen? I have a mild form of OCD so by ears I mean this:



I know that I can hide the dock, but then I do not see the opened programs. 

What solutions are available to extend the opaque dock background to the edges of the screen so that visually it is a wider bar matching the screen width?

On a Windows machine you have a notification area wth clock and date in the "right ear" and the start button and search etc. in the "left ear".
If you put the dock on the left- or right-hand side of the screen instead of at the bottom, the unused space around it will be much smaller.