Launchbar 6 9 2 – Powerful Fileurlemail Launcher Utility System

Program launchers for the Mac are not hard to come by, but it can be difficult to find one that is outstandingly good. LaunchBar is a powerful launcher that cannot only be used to start applications can access files and folders, but can also be used to search for files, search the internet and much more.

SlickRun 4.4.9.3. Our Rating: User Rating: Popularity: 6; SlickRun is a floating command launcher utility,that provides you with almost instant access to any program on your computer. It allows you to create command aliases (Magic Words), that, when typed, will launch the. LaunchBar is an award winning productivity utility that offers an amazingly intuitive and efficient way to control your computer. It provides instant access to thousands of files and folders, contacts and bookmarks, applications and preference panes just by entering short abbreviations of the searched item’s name.

The application is keyboard based, so Mac users who work best when their fingers do not leave the keys will feel immediately at home. There are a number of keyboard shortcuts available, and abbreviations can be used to speed up the process or performing searching or launch applications.

A built in calculator is on hand for when it is needed and Launchbar also includes the ability to merge the contents of the clipboard by simply pressing the Copy shortcut twice. As well as launching applications, LaunchBar can also be used as a file manager.

The ability to search online content and offline files is immensely useful, as is the ability to quickly preview and open files as you browse. LaunchBar is more than just a standard launcher tool - it has plenty more tricks up its sleeve.

Verdict:

A launcher with a difference, LaunchBar is a valuable addition to any Mac.

LaunchBar
Developer(s)	Objective Development Software GmbH
Initial release	1996
Stable release	6.12 (September 27, 2019; 12 months ago^[1]) [±]
Written in	Objective-C
Operating system	macOS
Available in	English, German
Type	Application launcher
License	Proprietary
Website	http://www.obdev.at/launchbar

LaunchBar is an application launcher for macOS. It provides access to user's applications and files, by entering short abbreviations of the searched item's name. It uses an adaptive algorithm that 'learns' a user's preferred abbreviations for a particular application. For example, after training, Adobe Photoshop may be launched by simply typing 'pho' and Time Machine can be opened by typing 'tm' even though that sequence of characters does not appear anywhere in the name of the application.

LaunchBar also provides capabilities beyond application launching, such as file management and piping the current selection to a command line utility, along with clipboard management and a built-in calculator.

LaunchBar is distributed as cripplewareshareware - full usage of the application requires paying the registration fee, but up to 7 abbreviations may be used per session without paying anything.

According to user interface researcher Bruce Tognazzini, 'LaunchBar should be able to outperform a visual interface for complex, repetitive switching sequences by an expert user'.^[2]

History[edit]

LaunchBar began as a series of shell scripts for the NeXTSTEP platform, then migrated to OPENSTEP where it was developed into a full-fledged application. It was ported to Mac OS X in 2001 as LaunchBar 3.

In 2005, Apple introduced Spotlight, which took over LaunchBar's default position at the top-right corner of the screen. In response, LaunchBar was changed to display its window at the center of the screen, below the menu bar.^[3]