Save time on your PC with Launchy
We all want to get things done faster, right? I know, faster isn’t always better but there are some tasks that just take awhile and every little time saver can help.
While I appreciate the invention of the mouse (in relation to computers; not that I hate the rodent or anything), in some ways it has complicated menial tasks. Like launching a program on your PC. Let’s step through the process and how it might go down. Let’s say you want to start Microsoft Word:
- Move your mouse to see where your mouse cursor is. Depending on what you’ve got going on your screen, it might take a second or two for you to locate your mouse pointer.
- Get your pointer down to the Start button and click.
- Is the program you use showing up in the initial Start menu? Look for it for a moment. Hmm, no. Guess I need to go back down to All Programs and find it.
- There’s Microsoft. Oh, that’s for my Microsoft mouse. Let me go back a menu. Ah, Microsoft Office! That’s what I want.
- Lo and behold, there’s the Word icon. Click. The program starts.
Yes, I realize this is a dramatization that borders on the extreme, but you’ve been there, right? I know I have. I install some application or program, can’t remember the developer, forget what menu option its under and by the time I find it, I could have pressed a couple buttons on my keyboard, started spelling out the name of the application I want and be on my way before I even made it to Step 3 above.
Confused? Don’t be.
Enter Launchy. Launchy lets you do things on your computer just by typing. Let’s revisit the step by step exercise we did above, only this time, we’ll use Launchy.
- Hit Alt+Spacebar. A black bar appears in the center of your screen, cursor blinking, ready for you to type.
- Start typing the name of the application you want to start. In all likelihood, Launchy will finish the name of the application you want for you within the first four letters. Hit Enter. The program starts.
That’s it. That’s all there is to launching programs with Launchy.
The image below shows how Launchy works. Just type a few letters of the program you want to start and Launchy takes care of the rest.
Think about it. Your hands are already typing away on the keyboard. It’s absolutely no big deal to just Alt+Spacebar and start typing the name of the program you want. For more advanced users, you can tell Launchy to watch certain folders on your computer so you can type the names of individual documents right into Launchy to open them. All around, it’s a faster method of doing things on your PC.
My challenge to you is this: use Launchy for a week. At first you won’t remember to use it because you’re so used to just pointing and clicking so you might want to put a sticky note near your computer screen that says "remember Launchy!"
So, give Launchy a try for a week, then come back here and post a comment on what you think and if it made working on your PC just a little quicker and easier.
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