June 16, 2003
LaunchBar
A friend just got a new Mac and I had to tell him about my favourite Mac OS X utility. I thought I'd post about it here as well.
LaunchBar is an inexpensive, little utility that indexes your harddisc looking for various files, directories, applications, etc. Once it's done that it is accessible through a global keystroke (command-space) that activates it. When it is activated, it pops up a small window right below the menubar with a list of choices that change according to the keystrokes you type. For example, on my machine when I type in "sa" i get a list that includes "Safari", "Sampler" & "SampleModel.html". A "ca" gets me "Camino", "iCal" and "Carbon Copy Cloner". When I hit return after making my selection(using the arrow keys if required) it will open/launch it. Furthermore, it knows how to parse certain file types such as your address book and your bookmarks. When I type: "
This might sound odd and very un-mac like, but once you use it, you can't imagine not having it. And for those of us with wrist problems it's a godsend to not have to use the mouse for every interaction with the OS/window system. The trick is to come up with a good set of indexed directories. For example, on my work machine, I have the Javadoc for JDK 1.4.1 and my source tree indexed. Since it remembers previous invocations and will prioritize previously opened items at the top of the list, between these two indexes, I never search my filesystem looking for code or documentation.
I'd say that almost every developer in my group has purchased a license to it. It's written by a lone developer so we're holding off purchasing a site license since we all want to support him. I'd say it's the best $19.95 Mac app out there. Whenever I hear about about a cool $10-$20 app, I compare its value against the $19.95 I paid for LaunchBar. None have won that comparison yet. Check it out and let me know what you think. Even without a license it's fully usable but it nags you every now and then when it opens up a document for you.
- LaunchBar Keep your hands on the keyboard!