Launchy!

Hello,

Still working on a post about my Linux server project but I thought I would fill the time by describing a neat little app for windows that some of you may like, Launchy. (download it here) It’s an open source app (meaning you can get it and run it for free, and fool around with the code if you feel so inclined) that allows you to access all kinds of functionality on your (windows) computer with a few key strokes.

After you install Launchy it scans your start menu (and any other drives or folders you would like it to) and creates an index that allows you to quickly open up applications simply by pressing the ‘alt’ and ’space’ keys at the same time and typing in what you want. I’m putting together a quick demo movie that will go up soonish. What’s really cool is that it learns what you want the more you use it, so now all I have to do is type the letter ‘f’ and I can open up firefox. If you are reasonably familiar with, and have a somewhat organized, file structure you can also quickly work your way into the target folder that you would otherwise have to click through lots of intervening screens in Explorer to get to. It even lets you do calculations or launch searches in various web directories amongst other things.

For each individual task this really doesn’t represent a super big savings in time, and if you don’t want to take the time to learn how to use it it’s really not a big deal. But I must say that I like being able to get to nearly anything on my computer without having to take my hands off the key board (that mouse is just soooooo far away, seriously, I’m looking at it right now off about a foot to my right and dreading the idea of having to reach over there to press publish in a few minutes ). It’s actually vaguely like a return to the command line, although you are still accessing it through a pretty GUI.

Oh well, back to work I suppose…

Update – If you want to try a similar piece of software for the Mac that looks even slicker (and is also free), Quicksilver seems to be the way to go.