One of the best features in Windows 7 is its revamped taskbar and its program-pinning. Combining the utility of customization, big and legible icons, and stylish preview windows, it radically changes the Windows interface. Until it's released, Windows XP users will have to get by with third-party docking programs.
ObjectDock
(Credit: Stardock, Inc.)One of the most popular Windows dock replacements, ObjectDock, replaces the taskbar with a colorful, animated dock similar to the taskbar in Mac OS X. It displays icons for currently running programs and hosts quick-launch icons for your favorite programs. As you pass the cursor over each icon, ObjectDock magnifies it. An attractive clock rounds out the toolbar. It comes with skins, and users with slow computers can reduce the animation quality to increase speed. You can also customize nearly every aspect of the dock, easily maximizing its hefty resource usage to your best advantage.
Besides being a bit sluggish, it lacks a system tray replacement. You can also upgrade to the Plus edition for $20, which includes system tray support, tabbed docks, support for multiple docks and multiple monitors, and other features.
A RocketDock skin.
(Credit: RocketDock)Another well-liked taskbar replacement, RocketDock soars. The Mac-style program dock and launcher for Windows 2000, XP, and Vista has it all, from a smooth installation to mostly flawless icon transitions, and an unobtrusive footprint. If you're looking for something similar to ObjectDock that isn't ObjectDock, RocketDock might be for you.
It can live on any of the four edges of your monitor; you can set it to be always on top of other programs, or on the bottom; it can autohide or be ever-present. Twenty skins, customizable fonts and colors, and icon replacements give you the features you'd expect. A growing online community offers more icons, widgets, and skins, so there are tons of customization options. The main settings menu is not logically placed. Configuring extras happens in one menu, while another menu hosts your main options.
XWindows is a slick approximation of the OS X dock. It sports several improvements that ObjectDock and RocketDock don't have, such as stackable files that telescope out when you click on them. Of course, you have to manually build the stacks, but it's useful if you edit the same few files regularly. You can also stack folders and watch their contents telescope out from the bottom of your screen when you click on one.
That leads to a minor problem: XWindows can't be docked elsewhere on the screen. It must live at the bottom, which I found irritating since I prefer my taskbar and programs to live at the screen's top. It's not the biggest problem with the program, though. XWindows crashed on me several times during testing. It looks great, and the icon resizing was smooth, but be prepared for bugginess.
Yz Dock
(Credit: M.Yamaguchi)MobyDock DX comes loaded with icons, so as soon as you start using it you can get going. It's a good, solid, basic dock. You can customize icons and programs, use it to launch folders or documents, and place it anywhere on your screen. It can also be configured to notify you of new mail.
The weather indicator didn't work for me even when configured, and the despite its smoothness, the dock is a bit of a slow responder. It comes with a clock, too, but if you're addicted to your system tray don't plan on using MobyDock to wean you from it. It's a strong supplement, but not a replacement. The lack of skins is annoying because you can only choose from three Windows XP-default color backgrounds--blue, olive, or silver; but at least you can hide the background altogether by making it transparent. Even with these problems, and the fact that MobyDock hasn't been improved since 2003, it still works well enough for many XP users.
RK Launcher is another dock that hasn't seen an update in years, but works well enough to make it onto the list. It's very similar to many of these docks: you can position it anywhere on the screen; it uses little notification arrows when a docked program is running; you can customize icons and programs. It struggles a bit with responsiveness, but not as much as MobyDock. It does use the Mac split-face icon by default, so if you're trying to skin Windows XP to look like OS X, this dock might appeal to you.
Circle Dock
(Credit: Eric Wong)Yz Dock--"wise" dock, I'm assuming--feels like the fastest "traditional" dock of the group. Yet another dock that hasn't seen an update in nearly half a decade, it loads stripped down and ready for you to drag-and-drop your icons onto its translucent pane. It's got the basics: adjustable placement and customizable icons. You can also choose from several in-use notifiers and dock skins. It froze in the magnified position several times, but it didn't actually crash and cease functioning. If you want a dock that's lightweight and fast, this might be what you're looking for.
The two nonlinear docks that I tested were Circle Dock and Slider Dock. Circle Dock might bother people who are used to the traditional, linear-dock style, and you might miss the animation of icons zooming. If you don't care about either of those, Circle Dock will run elliptical shapes around other docks. It's fast, customizable, and can be dragged to wherever you need it on your monitor. The center of the dock is a button that can be configured to open the Start menu, or hide the dock. You can toggle the dock's visibility with the F1 key or your center mouse button. When you bring it up again, it will appear wherever your mouse is--saving you the extra wrist movement of getting to the dock.
Users can configure the dock behavior so that it's locked to a position, and you can set the number of icons per circle. Any spillover will create an ever-larger second circle of your files, folders, and programs. If you're looking for something fresh, Circle Dock is an excellent choice. Slider Dock isn't bad, either, but it's a bit weird.
Slider Dock
(Credit: Dimitri Roozendaal)It places your icons on an ellipse, with the nearest icons the largest. It's even more atypical than Circle Dock, though. When you click on an icon, it orbits the icon around the ellipse until it's located in the foreground position. From there, you have to click on it again to launch it. You can use your mouse or arrow keys to rotate the icons, but it's still fairly strange behavior for a dock, because it makes you work more to get your programs running.
Unlike Circle Dock, there's only one ring of icons. If it gets too cluttered, you can adjust it with sliders in the control panel. It's smooth and fast, though, so if you can get beyond the unusual behavior it could make for an excellent dock.
If you have a favorite dock that I didn't mention here, let me know in the comments below.
Quickfire is a recently released experimental Firefox add-on that lets you find and launch Mac applications straight from Firefox's address awesome bar. Just like in Quicksilver, Spotlight, and any other launch helper, you need only to type a couple of letters to get it going. It doesn't provide icons for each application, but it will show you the root folder where it's stored, and loads up the app as soon as you hit enter.
If you're on a Mac there honestly isn't much use for this, since the built-in Spotlight can do the same thing with a very simple and easy keyboard shortcut of its own. However it can, occasionally, come in handy if you're in the middle of using some Web app and realize you want to fire up a certain outside application, since the result suggestions load up the same way they do for site history and bookmarks.
Once installed, Quickfire lets you launch desktop applications for Firefox's 'awesome' bar.
(Credit: CNET Networks)
Powered by hot keys and keywords, Executor is a program launcher customizable to an impressive degree. A skinnable bar appears at the top of your screen that makes up the most trafficked aspect of the program, with an extensive and organized list of settings available from the Windows Taskbar. As soon as you type in the first few characters of the program that you're looking for into the main UI, a list of potential choices appears. The more you type, the shorter the list becomes, or you can scroll down to click the item you want.
The important thing to pay attention to in Executor is that hard-drive indexing, a key component of this kind of program, is optional. Opt out when you install the program, and all it'll be good for is firing up applications. You can always set it to index either specific folders or your entire hard drive later, but this optional indexing can be confusing as well as useful.
Much in Executor gets done with keywords. Users can choose to drag an object onto the bar to create a keyword for said file, folder, or favorite, or manually create one in the Settings menu. For example, Executor automatically opens up the native Windows Add/Remove Programs menu when you type addremove. From such superficial aspects such as the skins to how the auto-complete function behaves, Executor's customization is king. You can set it to override the Windows Run hot key, you can swap hot keys around, and you can set URLs, files, or programs to launch as Executor starts. Power users who are looking to accomplish specific program-launching tasks within a launching framework will get the most out of this app.
Similar to Launchy, Executor is a program launcher powered by hot keys that nonetheless offers a different program-starting experience.
Several of the many skins available for Executor.
(Credit: Executor)The interface should be familiar to Launchy fans. A skinnable bar appears at the top of your screen, and as soon as you type in the first few characters of the program that you're looking for, a list of potential choices appears. The more you type, the shorter the list becomes. Users can also scroll down the list to click on the item they want.
From there, Executor begins to differentiate itself. The customization options that you can choose from give the little app a lot of heft. Users can choose to drag an object onto the bar to create a keyword for said file, folder, or favorite. This is an interesting workaround for the less-than-compelling search feature, which works great with programs but had trouble indexing all my files.
Another built-in alternative takes advantage of the native Windows searching system, for both XP and Vista users. Users should be able to type "find [text]" and Executor will search your hard drive. In principle, even with the keyword this depends on you going into the Settings menu and configuring the indexing system to index your entire hard drive.
However, the keyword feature works great. Change that ''find'' to ''addremove'' and type in the name of the program, and Executor automatically opens up the Windows native Add/Remove Programs options from the Control Panel.
It feels like everything else in Executor can be customized, from such superficial aspects such as the skins to how the auto-completion function behaves. You can set it to override the Windows Run hot key, you can swap hot keys around, and you can set URLs, files, or programs to launch alongside Executor.
Executor should appeal to power users who are looking to accomplish specific program-launching tasks within a framework that offers a lot of leeway for customization.
Launchy
(Credit: CNET Networks)If you're familiar with Windows application launchers (aside from the "Run" button), you probably already know about Launchy, a simple utility that finds and runs/opens programs, file, music, Web searches, and bookmarks. Launchy has earned a big fan base because of its simplicity and efficiency. However, two new free launchers have their sights set on Launchy's user base.
Executor is slick and endlessly keywordable.
(Credit: CNET Networks)Yesterday, the tech site Lifehacker featured Executor, a free release from Martin Bressman that expands upon Launchy's run functionality. Executor has a slick interface and is a no-brainer for keyboard maniacs. All of your favorite software, movies, and music can be started with easily customizable keywords.
FARR looks simple, but works quickly.
(Credit: CNET Networks)Another popular program on the rise is the Find and Run Robot (or FARR) from DonationCoder.com. Although FARR is styled more like a search tool than a launcher, once you find what you're looking for, FARR lets you start applications, send e-mail, and perform quick Web searches. It uses adaptive caching to learn which programs and files you use most, and it's also been extended with free add-ons for services like Google Maps and compatibility with alternative browsers like Opera.
Do you use a launching application, or is the good old Windows Start button and Run functionality good enough? Tell me about it in the comments.
Add shortcuts for system indicators, most-used applications, and Web sites.
(Credit: CNET Networks)There are two ways to get to your most-wanted applications on a Windows Mobile phone. If you're lucky, your program of choice is among the icons of six recently-opened applications strung along the top bar of the Windows Mobile interface. Otherwise, you'll be picking or clicking through the randomly-arranged icons in the application explorer, the platform's inert portal to your collection of programs.
Until the Windows Mobile interface gives people more options for starting programs fast, there's Elecont Launcher, a much more direct solution for quick-launching applications. This small, simple, and handy install takes out some of that manual labor by adhering your preferred applications and files to the home screen. In addition, you can create as many Web short cuts as you'd like, which also saves you time scrounging through Pocket IE's bookmarks.
Elecont Launcher makes the second icon row a permanent fixture. The visuals vary by phone model.
(Credit: CNET Networks)A few tweaks and tune-ups, however, would tighten the launcher's presentation and utility. The tool tips naming each icon were a tad out-of-sync with my scrolling and often didn't register until after I had clicked the short cut. Web short cuts were all associated with the Pocket IE icon, which could get confusing. The product would offer better service if it allowed users to override icon assignments. Also worthy of loosening-up is the three-day trial period for this $6.95 application. We'd assign a week for try-outs, like many other mobile publishers, if we had our druthers. Elecont Launch isn't the prettiest app launcher out there, but its easy customizing mostly won us over.
Where most other docks fail, RocketDock soars. The Mac-style program dock and launcher for Windows 2000, XP, and Vista has it all, from a smooth installation to flawless icon transitions and an unobtrusive footprint.
The app is loaded with options. The dock can live on any of the four edges of your monitor, as well as autohide or be ever-present. It comes with more than 20 skins, and fonts and colors are fully customizable, as is the icon order. Program icons are customizable, too. The program publisher is also growing a community around the program, and the app's Web site has areas where you can download more icons, widgets, and skins to enhance and further customize your experience.
One drawback of the program is that the main settings menu is not where you go to add in and configure these extras. Instead, they're accessible from a secondary settings menu available only by right-clicking on the dock itself. It's frustrating, but not a major problem, and hopefully can be addressed in future updates.
Just a simple hotkey combo away, Launchy is a handy tool that lets you open nearly any program, file, folder, or Web site on your system with just a few keystrokes.
Enter the first few letters of a file or program, and Launchy's small, skinnable interface automatically displays the rest of the name. You simply press Enter to open or launch it. If the displayed name isn't the item you want, a few seconds later the tool displays a drop-down list with other likely candidates from which you can choose. Configuring Launchy is as easy as using the tool itself, and it can be directed to look only at specific directories if need be. Easy to master, it performed without a hitch in all Download.com tests, and could easily replace the Start menu or Windows Explorer--as long as you know the name of what you're looking for. Recommended for all.
Initiate's functionality is packed into the strip of buttons.
(Credit: Hobbyist Software)Having something come to you is always better than having to go to it. Like Launchy for Windows and Quicksilver for Mac, Duh Button Launcher Plus and Initiate save you time by getting your apps open fast. OK, it's not like the Palm OS app launcher is an irrevocable time suck, but these apps just make the process smoother.
Duh Button Launcher PlusLet's start with Duh Button Launcher Plus, because it's the free one. With just a little bit of work, you can map a list of your favorite apps to pop up with the press of one of four hard keys. According to the publisher, the Date book, Contacts, Tasks, and Notepad buttons are the only ones that are meant to be affected, though I found that the mapping varies by handset model. I had to disable the first and fourth hard key-mapping on the Treo 650, which corresponded to the Phone and Power buttons.
Regardless, mapping the apps from my phone memory and SD card (and desk accessories, if you've got 'em) to two hard keys worked well, and I liked that holding the key down scrolls through the list of apps--quickly!
Duh Button Launcher Plus lets you map favorite apps to hard keys.
(Credit: Supertruckersites.com)Though a quite decent launching shortcut, Duh Button Launcher Plus isn't a good choice if you want to keep original hard key functionality, and it's nothing less than puny in comparison with Initiate, the Swiss Army knife of app launchers. (Just remember, not everyone needs a Swiss Army knife.)
Initiate ProInitiate Pro reprograms the Home key with a pretty interface and a heap of functions. There's a short learning curve to find your way among the various buttons and views, but when you do, you'll be able to quickly launch apps, MP3s, memos, and bookmarks, and start e-mails and texts with a combination of typing, tapping, and even voice commands. For instance, one view sets you up to type the first few letters or even just consonants of an app to launch it. Another shows you just your music files or photos, and yet another shows all your device data, including what's on the SD card.
I like the ease of dragging and dropping apps from any view into the favorites category to further streamline launching. You can also drag items to and from the SD card, and to a button that lets you e-mail, beam it, or send it via Bluetooth. Initiate's extensive preferences include customizing trigger keys and hard keys, and downloading backgrounds and skins.
If there's a catch, it's that convenience isn't always free. The pro version costs $24.95 while the much more stripped-down Initiate Standard sets you back only $9.95.
Get: Duh Button Launcher Plus
Try: Initiate
(Credit:
CNET Networks)
I was working on my Mac recently when a co-worker came up and asked me a question regarding a feature I wrote a while back. I turned back to my Mac, hit a couple of hot keys, and quickly found the piece in question. My Windows-using co-worker immediately asked me what the little program was that I brought up with the hot keys, and after a couple of key strokes, I proudly brought it up again: Quicksilver.
Quicksilver is one of those programs that is so useful I never even think about it when I use it. To open files, bookmarks, your browser, or anything that's buried deep in your Mac's folders, simply bring up Quicksilver, type the first few letters, highlight the desired file using arrow keys, and hit return. Most of the time, what you're looking for comes up first anyway so all you have to do is hit return to launch it. It's truly a great addition to your Mac, particularly if you like quickly searching for things while keeping your hands on your keyboard.
Use the tab key to bring up a list of possible actions for your file
(Credit: CNET Networks)Beyond its convenient search and launching capabilities, Quicksilver offers a command mode for more complex tasks. When you're done searching for a file, simply hit the Tab key and use your arrow keys to do things like send the file in an e-mail, make an alias of the file, copy to clipboard, or any of a huge list of actions. What's more, you can add actions from a huge list of plug-in modules designed to interact with several other programs, so even uploading via FTP or adding pictures to Flickr is possible. All this, without your hands ever leaving the keyboard.
A lot of Mac users reading this are probably already faithful Quicksilver users. But if you haven't checked out this free jack-of-all-trades app, take it from me: This free app is definitely worthy of any Mac user.
