This is another one of my picks and LaunchBar is an application that I can’t live without (sorry to all you windows users, it’s Mac only). Someone recommended LaunchBar to me when I first got my Mac and I checked out the website, but I didn’t really get it. I thought, sure, it looks interesting, but is it really a necessity. Then I started using it and then it just clicked, and I realized why I needed it. Instead of having to clutter up my Dock, I can keep the bare minimum of items, and then use LaunchBar to quickly launch anything else that is on my computer with quick keyboard shortcuts.
LaunchBar is smart. For instance, if you type “ITU” it will give you a list of everything starting with those letters in a drop-down menu. Then, after you choose iTunes from the list, it remembers this and next time you type the shortcut, it becomes the first item in the list.
LaunchBar is fast. You would think that having to go through everything on your computer and remember what you picked last would slow everything down. Not at all. LaunchBar is always there when you need it and quickly makes itself invisible when you don’t.
LanchBar searches. You can even setup shortcuts to search templates. For instace, when I type “G” it selects the Google search template, then I just press the spacebar, enter my search term, and my web browser launches with the search results. This is especially useful when multitasking since you don’t have to keep switching between windows, it just does it. I’ve also setup other shortcuts for Wikipedia, IMDB, Pubmed, and many more searches.
LaunchBar emails. (Or at least launches email). You can configure LaunchBar to search the email addresses in your address book. When you select the address from the list, it launches a new message in Mail with the address already entered.
LaunchBar rocks! If you aren’t convinced yet, you just need to try it for yourself. At $19.95 it’s a steal considering how much I use it. You can configure LaunchBar to do as little or as much as you want (I haven’t even talked about launching iTunes playlists or bookmarks in your web browser). Once you “get it”, it will change your Mac experience forever!