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Launchy posts

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Open Source

Could open source Blaze be the best Windows application launcher ever?

Windowsby Lee Mathews Sep 24th 2009

Just as with Launchy or Gnome Do, there's not a heck of a lot to see in a screenshot of Blaze's main window. The orange-ish command box really only gives a glimpse as to what's possible with Blaze, however.

For starters, it's smart enough to find what you're looking for even if you should happen to stumble over your keys a bit (e.g. the butchered Photoshop entry above). Lurking behind the scenes is a powerful automation handling system and plugin support (skin support is coming soon).

The automator watches silently in the background, waiting to observe you performing repetitive tasks. When it spots something, Blaze will alert you and offer to create an action to handle the task next time. On the project page, the author demonstrates this functionality by renaming a directory full of photos. Blaze can also record macros -- so you can just press record, start doing what you need to do, and presto! You've got a new action.

Blaze ships with .dll plugins to provide several handy functions, like creating emails, performing calculations, index the ID3 tags of your MP3s, and more.

I can see myself enjoying Blaze on my netbook even without all the advanced functions. Since my typing isn't quite as accurate on the scaled-down keys, it's nice to know that Blaze will still be able to launch apps even if I hit a few wrong keys here or there.

edit: forgot to mention, .NET 3.5 is required - sorry, running Windows 7 you sometimes forget that it's still an additional download for some!

[via MakeUseOf]

Tags: application-launcher, launcher, launchy, open-source, portable

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Microsoft, Freeware

Microsoft finally gets into the keyboard app launcher biz with Speed Launch

Windowsby Brad Linder Aug 19th 2008

Speed Launch
If you've ever used a keyboard app launcher like Launchy, Executor, Quicksilver, or Gnome Do you've probably asked yourself, why doesn't Microsoft build something like this into Windows? Now Microsoft Office Labs has released a free keyboard launcher called Speed Launch.

Speed Launch adds a little bull's eyee to your desktop. To add a frequently used program, file, or document, to Speed Launch, just drag it to the target. You can then activate Speed Launch by hitting Win+C to bring up the program window. You can either hit the buttons to perform specified actions or type into the box. In other words, it does pretty much what you'd expect any keyboard launcher to do.

But Speed Launch has a few quirks. First, the program doesn't lose focus or go away unless you hit the X button in the upper right. Second, there doesn't seem to be a way to change the hotkeys that bring up the Speed Launch window. So if, like me, you happen to have a computer with an awkwardly-placed Windows key, there's no way to change the hotkeys.

The program is also a bit of a memory hog, using as much as 30MB of RAM, which is far more than similar programs like Launchy or Executor use. That seems strange, especially considering the fact that Speed Launch doesn't index your program files or start menu items automatically, something which both of those other programs do.

Overall, Speed Launch doesn't stack up particularly well against the competition. But it's worth keeping in mind that this is an experimental project that's still under development.

Tags: executor, launchy, microsoft, program-launcher, speed-launch

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Freeware

Executor: Light weight but powerful keyboard app launcher

Windowsby Brad Linder Aug 19th 2008

Executor
Executor is an application that lets you launch programs open URLs, or perform other actions with just a few keystrokes. At first glance, it looks a lot like Launchy. Both programs are free utilities for Windows that let you run programs without reaching for the mouse. And both will scan default and user-selected directories looking for a list of programs. But Executor wins hands down when it comes to customization options.

Probably the coolest feature in Executor is the ability to assign global hotkeys. You can add keywords for any program by dragging and dropping a shortcut or executable file into the kewyord section under the settings tab. And then you can select a global hotkey to press to bring up that application without even pulling up the Executor window. For example, I can now luanch the Irfanview image viewer either by hitting Ctrl+Z to bring up Executor and typing in "irfanview," or I can just hit Ctrl+I.

Here are a few other features that make Executor stand out:
  • Supports keyword "find [text]| for using Windows Vista search or Windows Desktop Search
  • You can configure a drop down menu to display additional results or to stay hidden
  • You can customize the heck out of the layout by changing the skin, fonts, dimensions, position, and transparency
  • Use a single keyword to start multiple programs/documents/etc
  • Assign properties to each keyword
[via Lifehacker]

Tags: executor, launchy, program-launcher

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Freeware

Short Run turns Windows XP run box into a program launcher

Windowsby Brad Linder Apr 2nd 2008

Short Run

While you can launch some Windows applications from the Run box (accessible from the Start Menu or by hitting Win+R), there's a good reason keyboard application launchers like Launchy, Slickrun, and Find and Run Robot are so popular. Many programs cannot be launched from the Windows Run box, and even those that can often have odd and hard to remember shortcut names.

But Short Run makes it a bit easier to throw out Launchy. Short Run is a free utility that will display every program that can be launched from the Windows Run dialog. You can add items by clicking Ctrl+A, or edit existing shortcut names and other properties by hitting Ctrl+E. Want to delete an entry? Just highlight it and hit the delete key.

Short Run will not auto-populate the Run box with every application in your Program Files directory or Windows Start Menu the way some other keyboard application launchers do. But if you just have a few applications that you want to launch quickly every day, and don't feel like installing a new program just to do it, Short Run can help you edit your Run settings.

[via gHacks]

Tags: application-launcher, farr, find-and-run-robot, keyboard-application-launcher, keyboard-launcher, launchy, short-run, slickrun

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Freeware

Launchy 2.0 released

Windowsby Brad Linder Dec 18th 2007

Launchy 2.0A few weeks back we asked you to name your favorite program launchers. While we're big fans of QuickSilver for OS X and Launchy for Windows, we had a feeling there might be something faster, fuller-featured, or otherwise better out there. And you rose to the challenge, listing a bunch of great alternatives.

But now Launchy's upping its game with the release of Launchy 2.0. It's still a lightweight and fast application launcher. But Launchy 2.0 sports a bunch of new features, and a ton of new customization options.

The two most noticeable changes are a new default skin (although you can select the classic theme if you like), and the fact that you can now easily drag and drop the Launchy bar to place it anywhere on your desktop. But that's not all that's new:
  • New icons and default skin
  • New options dialog with easy access to settings like opaqueness, number of alternative suggestions, theme selection, and folders to scan
  • Skin selector shows previews
  • Vista support
Your old plugins and skins will stop working when you upgrade, and your configuration file will be wiped. So if you don't want to lost data, you might want to hold off on upgrading to Launchy 2.0.

Tags: Launchy, launchy-2.0, program-launchers

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Ask DLS

What's your favorite program launcher? Ask DLS

WindowsMacLinuxby Brad Linder Nov 27th 2007

launchers
OS X has its dock, Windows Vista has an enhanced start menu, and Windows XP has, well, a bunch of menus to click through to launch programs. But thanks to independent developers, there are a ton of great program launchers out there that make it easy to bring an OS X-style dock to Windows, or keyboard program launchers to pretty much any operating system.

Over the years we've tried out a ton of program launchers, but we're not sure we've settled on a favorite. The sidebar launchers for Vista and Yahoo! Widget Engine are kind of nice. RocketDock is amazing if you have a handful or applications you use all the time. And keyboard launcher Launchy is all kinds of awesome, if you can remember the name of the program your looking for.

But we haven't yet found one launcher to rule them all. So we turn to you, our loyal Download Squad readers. What's your favorite application launcher, and why? Oh yeah, and don't forget to let us know what operating systems it works with. While Launchy and RocketDock are both Windows-only, we don't want to leave out applications like Google Desktop that are cross-platform.

Tags: gadgets, launchers, launchy, program-launchers, rocketdock, widgets

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Filed under: Design, Utilities, Windows, Productivity, Microsoft, Shareware

Enso Launcher - the keyboard launcher I wanted to love

Windowsby Jason Clarke Feb 25th 2007

Enso LauncherEnso Launcher is YAKAL (yet another keyboard application launcher) from Humanized. Where Enso sets itself apart is in the fact that the application puts a big focus on design and staying out of your way. In fact, Enso Launcher doesn't have a window, but instead layers itself over top of what you're currently doing, allowing you to stay in context.

I sat on this review for a long time because I have somewhat mixed feelings about Enso Launcher. I really wanted to love it, but the more I used it, the more its limitations became apparent.

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Tags: Colibri, Enso Launcher, EnsoLauncher, keyboard launcher, KeyboardLauncher, Launchy

Filed under: Design

Launchy Final 1.0: Download of the day

by Ryan Sullivan Feb 4th 2007

LaunchyAs reported earlier, Launchy is a quick and light launching application for the Windows platform. With the quick press of your Alt + Space Bar keys, a tiny little window will appear awaiting your command.

Wit this new release, Launchy is now better than ever! It comes with a large hand full of skins and you can also choose a different skin by downloading one from the Skin Forums. So you can choose to have that sleek Vista look or that old school Windows Notepad look. Either way, you will be able to get everything up and running in no time now that you do not need to search your computer for that freshly installed application. But the fun doesn't stop there with this newly released full version. Launchy now supports plug-ins as well! It already comes with four plug-ins allowing you to do extra functions such as searching your computer, entering a web address and then being taken to that site and Launchy also automatically catalogs your Firefox bookmarks. The creators will also be creating more plug-ins and they anticipate that other users of the program will create additional plug-ins as well.

Tags: Launchy, Plugins

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Productivity, Google, Microsoft, Freeware

Program launcher overload

Windowsby Jason Clarke Nov 30th 2006

Start MenuRemember when Windows 95 came out, and we were all introduced to the Start Menu? It was Microsoft's new way of allowing users to launch programs, and it kicked all kinds of butt over the old Windows 3.1 shell. They had done a bunch of user testing, and found that the Start Menu interface allowed users to launch their programs measurably faster than with previous interfaces.

Unfortunately, it just didn't take long to reach the point where too many entries in the Start Menu make it so slow and cumbersome to navigate that it becomes relatively useless as a program launcher. Of course to combat this problem Microsoft introduced arguably one of its worst Windows feature from a usability perspective, Personalized Menus. These are the menus that hide items that haven't been recently chosen from view. The problem here is that people are inherently visual creatures, and we learn the locations of the options and software we want to choose. When their locations change based on what is or isn't hidden, it slows us down and makes things more complicated.

Until Windows Vista comes out, this (along with desktop shortcuts) is the current state of the art with respect to program launching technology from Microsoft. I'm not the only one who finds these options lacking, since there are a million and one application launchers available for Windows. I know, I've got at least 4 of them installed.

Let's see what's on here:


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Tags: Application Launchers, ApplicationLaunchers, Colibri, Google Desktop, GoogleDesktop, Launchy, Program Launchers, ProgramLaunchers, SlickRun

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