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Some use cases for an application launcher include launching apps, launching bookmarks, launching AppleScripts, performing custom searches on various sites, doing quick mathematical calculations, opening files, getting at the recently-opened files within a certain app, accessing the clipboard history, performing actions on files (like grabbing a document and attaching it to an email, or resizing an image), and more.īottom line, what makes an application launcher such a critical tool is that it’s the fastest way launch and act on common apps, documents, bookmarks, and more.īut it doesn’t end there. The whole point is fast launching and fast actions. It should come up instantly when prompted, it should respond instantly, and I should never feel lost or confused when using it. If ever there was an app that needed to be as frictionless as possible, it would be the application launcher. There are plenty of other apps I spend more time in, but none I use more frequently than my application launcher.
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In 2011 I spent several months using Alfred, and I’ve switched over to it on occasion since then as well to stay abreast of its development. My first application launcher was Quicksilver, but when it farted out on Snow Leopard in 2009 I switched to LaunchBar. I spend about 6 of my working hours at my Mac, which equates to using LaunchBar about once every 10 minutes. On average, I bring up LaunchBar about 40 times per day when I’m working at my computer. Without LaunchBar installed it’s like I’m at a friend’s house, trying to navigate to the kitchen in the middle of the night and I can’t find the light switches and I keep stubbing my toes on the furniture.
#WINDOWS LAUNCHBAR ADDRESS INSTALL#
Whenever I do a clean install of my Mac (which is less often these days), the first application I download is LaunchBar.īecause to me, my application launcher is how I get around my computer. Want to launch an app on your Mac? There is, ahem, an app for that. For the persnickety power-user, there is but one way to navigate around a computer: with the keyboard.
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