SLOAN RANGER
Replace Windows' unproductive Start button with these more-useful free utilities
WANDA SLOAN
The Find and Run Robot is an attractive launch program with many useful features, and a full-fledged `manual' to give you access to the hundreds of tweaks and add-ons. |
Launchy is a terrific program launcher to replace the Start button. It indexes and finds stuff on your computer, and gives it to you to use.
This low-profile utility is for people who like to keep their fingers on the keyboard, instead of clicking, typing, clicking some more, typing again and so on - or in "pure" Windows clicking and clicking and clicking as you go through Start, All Programs, program folder, program name, etc.
After installing this program, it sits quietly waiting for you. You call it to action with a hot-key - Alt-Space.
You do this kind of hot-key, for newcomers, by holding down the Alt key and then tap the Space bar. Hot-keys are a brilliant invention, dating back to the stone ages of the 1970s. Mouse clicks will never replace them. It's likely you already use some, such as F7 to spell-check your Microsoft Word document or Ctrl-P to print from most Windows applications.
Launchy kind of resembles the "Run" dialogue (click Start, then Run, or press the Win-R hot-key) and also works a little bit like it. That is, however, a little bit like saying a Pantip Plaza computer-sale brochure is a little like Database because they both have words printed on paper.
Type something like "wi" or "micro" into the Launchy window and immediately a menu unfolds giving you items like Winamp, Windows Update and Winzip - or Microsoft Office. Move the cursor down to the program you want, hit Enter and up comes your program.
As its name indicates, Launchy was originally for quick and convenient launching of software. But the latest versions have added the ability to index, and thus open, anything on the computer. For example: Index all your MP3s, and from then on, about all you need to do to listen to your favourites as you work is to type "Amy" and tell Launchy to start the music.
There is more than this to Launchy, which is why it is a worldwide favourite of serious computer users, most of whom dislike the kludge and turtle-speed of the Start button.
But in just the past couple of months, several Launchy-type applications have been put out by generous programmers, and two of them are battling to replace Launchy on my main home computer.
Executor is as fast or faster, as small or smaller than Launchy. But it does more - quite a bit more, and very, very usefully.
For one thing, it uses keywords, which you assign. And far from only starting programs or associated files, it also does just about anything on your computer or the web you can imagine.
Type "desk" (say) and see your desktop. Make a keyword "pdb" and Executor will start your browser and show you http://www.bangkokpost.com/database.
It is easy to add new keywords, including not only the command you want, but also a note to yourself in plain English reminding you of what you are doing.
The program is nothing short of sensational for web searches. For example, type "wiki bangkok" to get the Wikipedia entry on the capital in your browser. Type "imdb dark knight" for the movie review. Google, Yahoo! and so on work the same way.
Executor also keeps a full history, like your browser - only much better. You can recall former launches and searches easily.
But as cool as Executor is - it's very cool - I'm looking even more closely at yet another wonderful addition to our choices about launching programs and doing way, way more than the Windows Start menu permits.
Find and Run Robot is called Farr by its programmer "Mouser" of the exceptionally terrific web site DonationCoder.
Farr does all of the above, pretty much. It works instantly; it doesn't even require a few moments to index your programs. Just install and go.
That means the program is fully portable. Put it and the lists of your special aliases on a thumb drive, and compute on someone else's computer, at work or on the road, just like it was your home machine.
It has several hot-keys to call it to action, including Ctrl-Space and the standalone Pause key - finally a use for the Pause key.
Don't worry too much about your spelling, too. You know how computers only will work if tell them exactly what you want them to do? Farr realises you misspell and mistype, and gives you the "close misses" as well as the hits when you type something in that doesn't make full sense. For example, mistype "wrd" and Farr still will pull up Microsoft Word, WordWeb and your Wireless Network Wizard.
In addition to starting programs, putting files into their proper software and doing web searches - as above - Farr is also a mini-explorer, able to browse and find files.
It is also a hugely powerful program. I'm not going to emphasise this, but moderately experienced users can actually program Farr or just download add-on specialty packs, the way maths geeks program their TI calculators.
And because the program saves your custom commands in an all-text XML file, you can easily swap your favourites with friends.
Farr requires that you register and receive a free licence from the author. This is pretty painless and there is no down side other than the couple of minutes it takes. I hope some of you will donate for the service, as well.
You can find Launchy at http://www.launchy.net.
Executor is from Denmark and lives at home25.inet.tele.dk/mb/executor.
Email: wandasloan@gmail.com.
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