Have you ever used Quicksilver on a Mac? Or maybe GnomeDo on a Linux system? If not, then I will explain what these programs do. They are programs that allow you to search for files/folders and even execute programs by just typing the name of that program. Type in ‘Firefox’ and it will allow you to open your website. Type in a song file name and it will allow you to play song in a media player.

Launchy is essentially the cousin of the above programs. Only this cousin runs Windows (although Launchy does have a Linux version too). Launchy runs in the background of your system and only appears (or disappears) when you press ‘alt-space’. The dialog box will open and allow you to search for the application/file/folder that you are looking for.

thanks to CNET for the above image

You may ask, why on earth would you need something like this? The simple answer is that it’s an easy, more efficient way of finding things on your computer. The Windows search function is put to shame when up against Launchy. You can launch applications, so that means your desktop space won’t need to be cluttered anymore. Even the start bar will become useless to you.

TIP: To search for something on Google just using Launchy, type in ‘Google’ then press TAB and then type what you’re searching for.

Here is the CNET video review of Launchy:

For the CNET editor and user reviews, click here.

To download Launchy click here.

For some cool tips and tricks when using Launcy, click here.

Quicksilver is a productivity tool that will catalog everything on your computer including applications, folders, files, emails, iTunes and much more. As you type, Quicksilver searchs its catalog gives you several actions you can take depending on what the results were. For example, if you search an application you can launch that application or open the folder where that application is stored. What makes Quicksilver so great is that is has plugins for A LOT of programs.

The best part is Quicksilver is adaptive. This means that it will start to recognize what you search for the most and place it at the top of the results. You can even search using keywords or abbreviations. The main thing to remember is Quicksilver is much more than just a search tool. For more information click here. This program is only available for Mac OS X 10.4 and newer.

Once you have downloaded Quicksilver, open the preferences and click Run Setup, if it hasn’t already prompted you to do so. You will see a window like this:

You do not have to read any of the information on the following pages on the setup, however I find it to be very informative. When you are ready to go on, click Continue.

Next, agree to the terms of the license and click Continue.

The next dialog box allows you to enable plugins to use with Quicksilver. These are what add the functionality to the program. Since the size of each plugin is extremely small, I recommend installing all of them in order to maximize the effectiveness of this program. Once you have selected the plugins you wish to install, click Continue.

On the next page you can configure the hot key used to activate Quicksilver. The default hot key is Ctrl+Spacebar but you can change it to whatever you prefer. Also, on this page you can change how often the catalog is updated. The default option is every 10 minutes. This appears to be the best option as updating the catalog does not seem to affect system performance. Once you have selected your options, click Continue.

The next page has some information on how to use Quicksilver. Click Continue to navigate to the last page of the setup. This page has links for support such as forums and how to report bugs, since this program is still in Beta. Click Finish and you should see the Quicksilver command window appear. This is where all the action takes place. All you have to do is start typing and let Quicksilver take it from there.

Quicksilver has a few more options you can configure, such as the appearance and what actions are available for each command input. Many people prefer the look of the “Bezel” command interface. Here is a screenshot of the Bezel command interface showing my favorite website :-) .

If you would like to see Quicksilver in action, check out this youtube video.

Even though Quicksilver is only available for Mac, Linux users should try Gnome Launch Box and Gnome Do which are similar programs. There are also a few Windows alternatives.