Super Command-line and Start menu indexer: Launchy 1.25

Launchy 1.25

http://www.launchy.net/

Psssst...I got a tip for ya!

Ok, I know I'm definitely not the first on the boat when I decided to post about Launchy, but figured I should, since I love it so much. I got a tip from Samer from FreewareGenius - - In his interview via Appaholic, he stated that Launchy was the first tool that he installed after he performed a system build (aside from the usual security applications, that is).

I've heard of Launchy from the likes of LifeHacker and other sites, but I've always blown it off because I like to have my system run with as few startup items as humanly possible.

Well, after reading Samer's interview, I thought I would give it a chance and see what the noise was all about with regards to Launchy.

What is Launchy?

In a nutshell, Launchy is a handy-dandy keystroke initiated program launcher which combines the benefits of a mini-search engine with your start menu. However, it is also a run-line replacement, allowing you to easily bring up folders & files with fewer keystrokes.

Different Strokes for Different Folks...

After Launchy is installed, hit the default keystroke combo of [alt]+[space] and a dark gray search box shows up in the middle of your screen. Note that you can change the default key combo if alt+space has got your fingers twisted!

Begin typing the command you want to run (very similar to how the Windows Vista Start menu works), and it will show you an indexed listing of any program that is on your Start menu that matches your criteria. You don't even have to type the entire name in - just a few keystrokes normally gets me to what I'm looking for...

So, instead of mucking about with a mouse and clicking, you can perform a quick keystroke and get what you need!

Expand the launching pad

Another nifty feature about Launchy is the ability to add folders & files you wish to index for the future, so say you have a folder that contains some files that do not appear in your start menu. You merely open the program, right-click on it, and select 'Directories' to add your locations.

Also, there are a ton of skins that come with the download distribution to alter the look of Launchy.

Plugins

As is the case with many other applications, Launchy can utilize Plugins which expand the capabilities of the program.

For example, there is 'Runny' (reminds me of a bad breakfast at a local diner), a plugin that allows you to create aliases for commands (including those that need user input).

For a complete listing of plugins, see the download page.

Portability!

Launchy can also run as a portable application from a USB key.

"Ooooohhh, now this is cool." (handy tip alert!)

Those were the words that came out of my mouth as soon as I tried the following (which may be well known for some of you, but I just stumbled upon it, and was very surprised that Launchy did this):

I opened Launchy and typed 'fff' wanting to know if the program would limit my results to anything that had 3 f's in a row in the name (which should be nothing). To my surprise, it brought up every Start menu item that had 3 f's in it, not in a row, mind you - but in the entire name...this selection brought up a 'Microsoft Office' icon, Mozilla Firefox (Safe Mode) and Microsoft Office Word 2007. Freakin' cool.

So, as I play around a bit with Launchy, I expect to find new uses and shortcuts to make it even better - - if you have any great Launchy tips, please post them here!

Here are a number of other tips you can try to make Launchy more useful to you.

Check out the forums here, and donate here.