Do you use a third party launcher with OS X?
 

Do you use a third party application launcher with OS X? If so, which one do you use? Butler? LaunchBar? Launcher? Butler?

Yeah, I use quicksilver rather heavily. It is a bit of a learning curve, but it's darned powerful when you get used to it. I no longer have any apps on my Doc (unless they are running), and I can find any file in quicksilver faster than I can with my mouse in finder... Kind of funny, all these years trying to perfect GUI's and I'm insisting on using keyboard shortcuts for everything :).

I'm a loyal X-Assist customer. I want my launchers to exist as menus, and stay the hell out of my screen real estate except when invoked. I want them divided up hierchically (I use way too many apps to have them all at the same level). Under OS 9 I was an OtherMenu user, and way back before that I used Apollo and under System 6, OnCue. So it's always been a menu-based launcher for me.

When leopard comes out everyone will just use stacks for custom application launchers. I have always just used the doc and put my most used applications on the doc. I never liked launchers, and hated them in Classic Mac OS.

I'm using it full time now and no, that does not replace the launcher. I like being able to press CTRL-CMD-L and typing a couple characters to immediately launch a program; there's nothing faster. Mousing is much slower.

I second this. I am hooked on QS for launching, for triggers to web sites (this one is Control-Option-Shift-F), as the means for launching scripts, for Googling, for going to google maps (just type maps - tab - tab - name of place - enter), for timed notifications (call George in a Growl notification), for making quick entries (via a script) in Journler, for triggering a backup script. As Zalister said, a learning curve, but one that keeps hands on keyboard.

I've stuck with LaunchBar. It was the first shareware application I ever paid for...so it has a soft spot in my heart ;)

The worst thing about using these programs is going to system without it. Then I feel slow and a bit discombobulated.

Dock...
 

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I find the OSX Dock satisfactory. As soon as I start up my Mac, I launch MS Word and Entourage, and my browser(s). Most days that’s all I require. If I receive PDFs or images to proof or comment, those apps open when I click the attachment.

Guess that makes me old fashioned... :o


discombobulated -- nice Scrabble word :D

There are keyboard shortcuts, and you can also map key commands to such things I can only assume. I really don't like launchers that much, and really don't need an application to launch 2 seconds faster.

It's not the launch faster that counts for me - it's finding the thing I want.

okay, but surely you don't use 100s of applications on a daily basis correct? I think that stacks will offer all the features I need for my Mac. I honestly am more hyped about Leopard now than before. I just really hope they streamline networking with Leopard.

I also don't like processes running in the background that I don't necessarily need, like a launcher. Even though OS X's memory management is suppose to take care of applications running in the background when idle I still don't want it running. I guess I am OCD about that:rolleyes::D

Quicksilver will find folders and files of any provenance by name as well in the places you want it to search. When I want to add to a running invoice I keep, for example, I just type the initials of the company and return, and QS opens Excel and the appropriate document. When I want a particular script (of about 2000 nested into my Scripts folder) I can type "SortM", for example, see it's guesses for what I want, down arrow if the first isn't it, and the second pane gives me a choice of running it (the default, so just a return) or opening it - tab to that pane, type "o" and return. I have some Unix executables that it will run. The list goes on. I'm more than willing to "suffer" whatever hit that imposes on my machine. QS "learns" by the way, so if you repeatedly select NetNewsWire after typing NN, that will rapidly become your first offer.

Quicksilver for me though I still mouse around in finder some too.

I just use Spotlight to open any apps or documents that aren't in my dock.

Spotlight is my launcher too.

Hmm, I never have that many scripts to deal with, once I create one that works solid I just put it into our image at work so its always on every machine. Other than that, I have a few scripts to run maintenance and maybe some other various things, but I only have maybe a few dozen.

The reason I like QS is because I never have to use my mouse when launching an application. And that's really it for me. Any launcher that involves me using the mouse is counter productive because I have to move my hands away from the keyboard. Thus, I don't know that I'll want to use stacks.

No, the best launchers are the ones that don't require my hands to leave the typing position. QS is one, and a powerful one, so it's what I use.

LaunchBar - It's simple it works. You don't have to memorize any arcane key combinations. No need to use the mouse. After using QuickSilver for a while I decided that if I wanted a command line interface I could just open up a terminal session.

Butler, but I believe I'm seriously underusing it. I had gotten into using the function keys with os9.1 and missed that with osx.

I'm often logging in as I'm doing other things around the house. I'll swing by the computer, reach out and click one function key, usually for Mail, and keep going to do something else.

I've got my browser, address book, and textedit all set up to launch from the function keys.

Someday...
when there's time, I'll explore the myriad functions Butler is touted to offer.

Okay, okay maybe I will try a launcher to see if its worth the fuss. However, I know I am going to have the terminal running top to see what it does. I just hate having processes running the background I don't need, I mean all my OSes run barebones pretty much to get the best performance.

LaunchBar uses about .1% of the CPU when idle.

yeah I know, but I like having 25 applications open at once when I am doing some heavy work. I need to work in a windows environment as well so I have parallels running constantly. I know hands on that OS X is solid but it ain't bullet proof. I have crashed my Mac a few times since I have had it, and I have 2gigs of RAM in it.

i use quicksilver, google search is ctrl+option+space and macosxhints.com is cmd+m

Depends on the CPU. I'm still running G3 and G4 computers even though I have a Mac Pro. The 3rd party launchers eat up more resources on the older machines.

There's also the question of RAM footprint.

I don't use hundreds, but certainly a few dozen. I've been known to fill the dock space completely (and I keep my dock pretty small). My launcher is part of Keyboard Maestro, a macro program, so it doesn't eat up any more memory than not having it. The macro program is another very important tool for me.

Ditto that. (Except for the Dock part. I don't do Dock. My Dock is banned to /Applications/Crap).

I seldom have a huge batch running simultaneously, but instead of 10-15 apps I run regularly, I've got 40-100 I run regularly. And a good many more I run incidentally. I've run six different versions just of FileMaker Pro this week, for instance!

You're insane!:p

442 LaunchBar 0.1% 1:03.02 4 104 0 0K 0K 34.7M 171M

Okay, I am actually on the fence in this "argument".

Half of me is totally on TLarkin's side...I am not a fan of extra processes running on my computer. One of my submissions to mydreamapp was "osnein" (a slimmed downed version of OS X, OS X minus drop shadows, animated GUIs, etc.). Bloated OSes are a bain on computing.

The other side of me considers LaunchBar an essential application...so I cannot exclude it from my CPU's attention. I only feel effective when I'm using LaunchBar. Not having it feels like I'm wasting my CPU's energy tracking my mouse across the screen. Whenever I'm crunched for time LaunchBar is my right-hard.

When I'm shopping, or just surfing on-line...I tend to use my mouse more.

This entire thread comes down to effectiveness. Some people are more than efficient without an application launcher....others feel hobbled without it. Neither is right or wrong...it's just a manner of operation.



Manual vs. Automatic vs. Triptonic

Thanks, everybody, for your input.

I think that is one of the reasons I never liked Quicksilver. I viewed it from the other perspective. (Some) keyboard shortcuts required me to move my hand from the trackpad. For me the trackpad was far faster than trying to navigate through applications and work flows with the keyboard. The sentence structure of Quicksilver commands felt awkward, like they were adding another cognitive layer to the process. It was logical, but not intuitive. In the end I could accomplish stuff faster with the trackpad.

I use keyboard shortcuts, but with the exception of cmd-i, every one I use can either be easily performed using the left hand (cmd-z, -x, -c, -v, -a, -s, -ctrl-d, -f, -g, -q, -w, -t), or can be performed with the right hand without moving away from the trackpad (cmd-[space], -[,], -[down], -[up], -[left], -[right]). I probably use the bottom row enter key ten times as often as the big return key. I also tend to keep certain windows in specific positions to take maximum advantage of Fitts' Law, to make the trackpad even more effective for my needs.

I would have to completely change the way I use my computer to use Quicksilver effectively. I've adapted a very trackpad-centric style that works very efficiently for me, so that's not really anything I'm interested in. Different strokes for different folk, I guess.

Yes, I agree. My machine is a G3 with a maximum capacity of 640 MB of RAM, so I have to take care to not have too many apps running in the background. How useful is an app compared to its resource usage? Some apps are worth it, and some are not. For me, personally, all the app launchers I've tried so far fall into the latter category. I've not tried all of them though.

I look forward to using Stacks. It looks to be an improvement on the Dock (which also takes full advantage of Fitts' Law), which I already find to be an incredibly fast and useful tool. None of the launchers I've tried have worked for me as well as the Dock. Stacks looks like it will allow me to tweak the Dock's organization a little bit more, a small feature with big payoffs.

I see that it takes up little resources but at the same time it will definitely spike. I am not against launchers but I have just been so comfortable with the GUI and the built in keyboard short cuts that I can just use those to get around. I will have to try one out and see how i like it because really my opinion is out dated on this. I hated the launcher in classic, in fact I never liked the older Mac OS, however i became the only Mac tech by default at work years and years ago, so i had to fix all of them (started fixing them circa OS 8.6 ish).

My Macbook pro actually kernel paniced today. Memory dump. I had two virtual machines open and several apps and I put it to sleep last night and when i woke it up this morning, wham it puked on me. So yeah I am skeptical to add anything to go rogue and eat up resources.

Quicksilver rocks
 

I just wanted to put in another vote for quicksilver, its such an amazing app, I use it for everything -- a real boost for productivity and a haven if you’re a keyboard shortcutter.

I am a recent pc convert and having QS is one of the things I love about the new-found power of the Mac experience. I often wonder why its not a part of the OS, as, in my opinion, it’s really the perfect example of what Spotlight should do. It’s simple, why stop at finding the files, what do you want to do with them... Do I really need to go to the office to tell my secretary to change a project name?

I also wanted to say that I found no steep learning curve in using QS. It is very easy to understand and use, the only thing that is "steep" is the number of available uses, but each one is pretty simple. It’s just a pleasant process of discovery. 43 folders, the Apple blog and Lifehacker have some great intros and advanced feature demos for learning more, but basically you just add one new use at a time. Believe me, use it and you’ll end up searching for more ways to exploit it’s efficiency, I can’t imagine not having it.

Beyond launching, it is a totally customizable action and process executor. I highly recommend giving it a go.

- Extra (unnecessary) resource consumption

- Not intuitive / Steep learning curve

- Feature cascade

- Does not conform to Apple's 80 percent solution

- Keyboard-centric instead of mouse-centric


If you like Quicksilver, by all means, use it. Those that have tried it seem to either love it or hate it. You're obviously one of the lovers, and there's nothing wrong with that.

There are, however, very good reasons why Apple doesn't incorporate it into the OS, of which I've listed a few above. Building an efficient OS that provides a good user experience is as much about what features not to add as it is about what features to add.

Although I am an avid Quicksilver user and fan, I'm also a long-time Mac user (first one was an 68000/8MHz 512ke "Fat Mac" with 512K of RAM), and I agree very strongly with J Christopher. Quicksilver is not even close to matching what the Mac stands for -- it's certainly not user-friendly to set up, and it's not transparent and obvious to use. It's a great application, but it's not Mac software as Apple and most users see it.

You know I had this discussion with a co-worker about Linux a while back ago. We were discussing what we liked and dis-liked about certain distros. he is a Debian user and I am more of a redhat guy (well i use suse) and we were talking about the dfiferences. I mentioned I didn't like how debian based distros lacked a lot of GUI features, and his typical debian response was, why do you need gui features? You have the terminal right there! My typical response was, why can't you just have both?

The thing is, more and more OSes are going to move away from command line and keyboard short cuts, but of course they will never ever get rid of them. They will always be there but more and more you will see a front end gui for everything else. Why? Honestly it is just easier to get around and easier to learn.

Look at what Apple has done for BSD. I mean there are already tons of front end GUI apps that take advantage of the unix level commands like finger, whois, top, so on and so forth.

The one major advantage of having a GUI is that its all right there in front of you so you can see it all. I will admit when looking at lots of different things at once having a graphical interface does make it easier to grasp than reading through a bunch of text.

I for one am in the middle of this debate because I do like to use command lines in many cases but in others prefer to the GUI. Even server OSes these days are more and more GUI based. I think it is the wave of the future and I think that Apple and many other companies are gearing towards that.

Who knows, someday it may be all voice activated, and the only time you need to input a keyboard is when your voice activation screws up.

Visualise Scotty in Star Trek 4 (save the whales), holding the computer mouse to his face and attempting to give it voice commands, "Computer... computer..."
;)

I hope to see consumer level direct computer-brain interface in my lifetime. If I die of old age, I think the odds are pretty good.

I use Finder/spotlight mostly, but i do use butler sometimes as well.

I disagree with the idea that shortcut keys will die out eventually, they're just to useful, especially if one is very skilled at using a keyboard.

I will admit, they are not for everyone. But really, isn't diversity the point of a computer? I like QS, it fits my style, but just because it works for me doesn't mean it works for my wife. She has a jillion things on her dock, and that's cool. I also know people who halfway it by using the spotlight finder, or perhaps a third party mouse interface (i forget the names, but I've seen them.)

Me, I think this is great. It's the whole point of software, right? Making it so you can manipulate your system in whatever way you want? That's why I like computers. So I hope we never decide there is a "right way" to interface with machines, I hope we all continue to have different needs, and I hope all of our different needs are fulfilled.

DragThing.
I can find (by category) and launch an app or folder or file presto.
Color-code the different tabs for different categories of apps; my main default ones are Audio-Visual; Docs / Files; Folders; Internet; Office; Pastimes; and Utilities.
Try it, you'll like it!

Bluetooth connectivity via implant in mastoid process, corneal implants with HUD like the fighter pilots have.

:eek:

Edit: And Wii implants in fingers to manipulate the apps.

jchristopher and novascotian i agree with what your saying, you bring up some good points. i really meant "part of the os" in a more conceptual way. the program would obviously be macified and blow our mind with its genius, wink, but it would have to incorporate many of the elements of each of the above-mentioned apps.

lets leave quicksilver out of it then... conceptually speaking though, dont you think that spotlight or some userfriendly macified variation is needed. doesnt it seem like it stops short and is inefficient to stop at finding a file and not giving some "action options" for what you may want to do with the file. i mean really thats what alot of these programs are really providing.

its a hard toss up for me, on one hand mac is so user friendly that it makes it open for everyone and unfortunately "average is dumb" to quote american splendor, but on the other hand i really think mac IS a scalable platform for power users that will lead us into the future, changing how we interact with all this information. the users are getting more savvy all the time. an increase in efficiency seems very mac.

i agree with zalister that shortcuts wont die out, although i think they may change, ie voice, but maybe this truly is the beauty of software and 3rd party resolutions and its not the job of the os. a lack of dogmatism is crucial. its fun to think about where were headed

My personal experience with Quicksilver is that it slows me down compared to how quickly I can use Finder, Dock, Spotlight, Exposé, Automator, etc. for the same tasks, but I prefer mousing (actually "trackpadding") over keyboarding, so I'm admittedly biased. I also don't use Spotlight (or any other app) unless it is the most appropriate tool in my toolbox for a particular job.

Quicksilver can do some stuff that the Dock does, some stuff that Finder does, some stuff Spotlight does, etc. It can't really be compared directly to any single Apple app. The Apple apps are more specialized, but are (arguably) more capable for their own specialized purposes. One can think of Quicksilver as an adjustable wrench. It is more versatile than any single wrench of fixed size (any single Apple app), but not as versatile as an entire set of fixed size wrenches. Of course, some people still prefer the adjustable wrench when it will work; it's personal preference.

Having said that, it's rare to find an application that could not be improved, even those written by Apple. Spotlight is fairly new, having only appeared in Tiger, so it is highly probable Apple will make improvements and refinements in Leopard and subsequent OS X releases.

I used to swear by DragThing in the old days of Classic. Nowadays, the Dock suits me just fine.

I have always preferred Quicksilver, but Launchbar is almost as good in my opinion. Let's see how Launchbar 5 works once it's released out of beta.

Whoa. Haven't seen this thread for awhile!

Be interesting to see what folks might post now that Leopard's been out for awhile. I'm still at 10.4.11 and still using Butler.

I too prefer Quicksilver often using it to launch scripts from its triggers, and always using it for google. I don't use SpotLight much (though I do use mdls and mdfind -onlyin frequently in scripts), I prefer Houdahspot because it doesn't have restrictions on where it searches. If I want more info, I use mdls or File Buddy.

I just use the Apple built in keyboard shortcuts and stacks in Leopard with Spaces I find it is all I really need.

Still using X-Assist, still run Dockless and happily so.

Launchbar since forever, miss it when it's not there. Don't really "get" the advantages of Spaces.

I use Spotlight to launch my apps, although I am trying out Google's Quick Search Box (my friend wrote it).

I just use cmd + shift + a to open up apps, then hit the letter that the app starts with then I hit cmd + o, and do the same to open up Utilities cmd + shift + u.

I don't have any desire to use third party though I keep hearing great things about quicksilver.....maybe one of these days I will give it a try see what all the fuss is about.

I used to use QuickSilver, but I keep returning to the Dock. I've no idea why.

I actually like the 3D dock with the smoked glass theme applied to it.

quicksilver for me very simple and easy to use, and i only just discovered some of the advanced stuff that it can do, and @Anti that smoked glass theme is pretty nice cheers