The program will display a list of programs on startup that can be restarted in the next Windows session. All the user needs to do is to place a checkmark next to any program that should be started again on the next Windows startup.

The program makes use of the run once key in the Windows Registry to launch these applications again. What this means is that while the programs will be launched the last session in the applications will not unless the application itself support sessions. This means that it is possible to launch a web browser like Firefox with the tabs open that have been open during the last session. Applications like Notepad, Adobe Photoshop or Word on the other hand will be launched with blank screens instead.

Cache My Work can also remember the open Windows Explorer windows to recreate them on the next start of the operating system. The program is intuitive to use and should not pose any problems even to inexperienced users. Interested users can download the program from its Codeplex profile page. (via Download Squad)

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The Avant Window Navigator is a dock-like bar that rests at the bottom of your desktop that launches applications, holds applets, serves as a window-list, and more. Avant is very easy to install, takes up little to no resources, and is simple to manage. Let’s take a look at installing and setting up this nifty tool.

Getting and installing

Fortunately Avant will be found in your distribution’s repositories. So all you have to do is fire up Synaptic (or your favorite Add/Remove Software utility) and add it. There are a few packages you will want to search for and add (many of these will be auto-selected when you select the main Avant package):

• python-awn
• avant-window-navigator-data
• awn-manager
• libawn-extras0
• libawn0
• avant-window-navigator
• python-awnlib
• awn-applets-c-extra
• awn-applets-c-core
• awn-applets-python-extras
• python-awn-extras
• awn-applets-python-core

It’s a long list but it will give you everything you need. There will be one or two extra dependencies, depending upon your installation, but when the installation is complete you will have everything you need for Avant.

So do a search for “avant” (no quotes) and mark the above for Installation. Click Apply to run the installation. When the install finishes you are ready to start Avant.

Starting Avant

Figure 1

If you are using the GNOME desktop you might want to get rid of the panel on the lower edge of your desktop. What I did was move anything that I use to the upper panel and then delete the lower panel. Now, go to the Applications menu, click the Accessories sub-menu, and then select the Avant Window Navigator entry. This will start up Avant which will appear at the bottom of your desktop (see Figure 1). As you can see (in Figure 1), this dock acts very much like the OS X doc. When you open an application a small icon will appear where you can de-iconify a window. In the image shown I have opened a few applications. These have all be opened from the GNOME Applications menu. But can you add icons directly to the Avant dock so you don’t have to rely on the GNOME menu? Yes. And it’s much like adding any launcher to any bar.

Adding launchers

Figure 2

If you have no windows open, by default, your Avant Window Navigator will only have one icon – the AWN Manager. That is where you do all of the configuration for the dock. In that window (see Figure 2) click on the Launchers “tab”. You will see (in Figure 2) I have already created a couple of launchers for my dock. To do this click the Add button which will open up a small window. In this window you need to configure four pieces of data:

Name: The name of the application

Description: The description of the application.

Command: The command to launch the application. NOTE: Command must be in the users $PATH.

Icon: An icon for the application.

When you choose an icon for the application, the icon must be in a directory the user has permission to use. For example: Google Chrome installs into the /opt directory so any of the application icons are not usable by AWN. To get around that copy the icon you want to use to a directory your user has access too (for example ~/Pictures).

After you fill out the information click the OK button and icon will appear on AWN.

There are a lot of other possible configurations for the Avant Window Manager (all of which are within the AWN Manager). Play around with them to discover the perfect setup for your desktop. One particular configuration option you might want to take care of is in the General “tab”. If you want Avant to start up automatically check that box in the General tab and Avant will start when your desktop starts.

Final thoughts

The Avant Window Navigator is a fine addition to the Linux desktop. If you like the OS X doc you are certain to enjoy AWN. Install this dock, configure it, and see if you can eventually remove the remaining GNOME panels.

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Everything that can be launched from the Windows Run dialog can also be launched with Control Pad.

New key combinations can be added easily to the program by pressing the * key, entering chars, pressing the / key and typing in the file or website that should be launched when pressing the key combination.

Commands can also be directly edited in the commands.ini file which is usually faster if multiple commands are added. Special commands can also be assigned to key combinations. This is best done by clicking on the bracket icon after pressing / in the key creation process. Here it is possible to control media, change the volume of the sound, add browser functions like going back and forward and configuring keyboard shortcuts. The program can also initiate mouse clicks which might be interesting for some purposes.

It is even possible to combine commands with the + parameter. A user could for example launch multiple programs or websites with a single command.

Options are available to change the time it takes to display and auto close the command interface. Several aspects of the interface can be modified including colors, fonts, dimensions and opacity.

Laptop mode switches moves the keys from the numeric keypad to the F10-F12 keys. F12 will launch the input box, F11 will close it and F10 will add a new command after entering the code in the input box.

Control Pad is a versatile command launcher that can be handled with one hand. That and the fact that is uses only one Megabyte of computer memory (and about five of virtual memory) is its greatest strength.

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What if you could bundle applications together so that one click – one execution – will open them all. Lacuna Launcher is a contribution to Donation Coder’s NANY 2009 challenge. What does it do? The portable software will launch all applications that are specified in a text document that gets loaded during application start.

Unzipping the software will reveal the application itself and a text document that contains a link to Notepad. This is being used as an example and can be modified accordingly. Just place one application per line including its full path in the text document. You can also point the application to shortcuts in case you want to launch applications with startup parameters.

There is also the possibility to start Lacuna Launcher with startup parameters. You can use it to launch application groups by pointing each shortcut to a different text document on the computer. The shortcut makes use of the two optional parameters delay and pause. Delay specifies the time in seconds before the first application will be started while pause defines the idle time between the application launches.

Lacuna Launcher can be used to delay the startup of applications during Windows startup by moving a shortcut to the application into a Windows startup folder. This is an alternative to the startup software we covered earlier today.

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Speed Typing is but one of the aspects of Direct Access, it is more of a workflow optimizer. At its core is the ability to identify commands that are entered by the user. This can be Microsoft Office 2007, Firefox or Notepad. Direct Access displays an overlay when a command gets recognized to provide a visual signal to the user. The command could then be executed by the user by pressing the associated hotkey.

Here are some examples: You can use Direct Access to create text abbreviations. To write Best Regards you could simply type br and hit the confirmation key which will automatically expand the text. Other possibilities include automatic spell checking as it is possible to define commands that do not a confirmation.

Text manipulation is but one of the possibilities that Direct Access offers. It can also be used to launch applications or websites. It is for example possible to launch an email client, Wikipedia or Skype with short commands that can be initiated anywhere. Commands are recognized anywhere, they just have to be typed on the keyboard. To make it clearer, no text input form is needed to write and start commands.

Want to startup the Windows Calculator? Just type calc and press shift afterwards anywhere. Want to display the Network Places in Windows? Type netw and shift to load that interface. Want to start the email client Thunderbird? Type tb and hit shift to load the email client.

Direct Access comes with a set of default commands that can be imported easily to help the user understand the software program. These default commands add all kinds of commands to the software. All examples given above are included in the default command set.

Before we explore the custom command creation we would like to let you know that you can download additional command packages from the website. This includes an html and control panel command set but also auto corrections for various languages like Spanish, German or French.

One of the main ways to increase the workflow is the custom command creation. It is possible to edit a default command in case you want to change the way the command is launched. Commands use various parameters depending on their purpose.

Auto-correction commands require only four parameters while application commands make use of seven. There are four types of commands that can be added to the software program: Autotext, Launch Application, Open Website and Send e-Mail.

To create a new auto-correction command one would simply add the correct phrase, the mistyped phrase and a description. Applications on the other hand require additional work. You need to specify the path, window style, abbreviation, option parameters and run in commands and if you want to use a confirmation key.

Direct Access makes use of a few shortcuts to streamline the process. Shortcuts are available to add the current application, the last executed command or to create a new autotext.

You can further optimize commands with the use of macros. Think of macros as advanced commands that do more than the execution of just one software program. Some examples include positioning the cursor after executing a command, inserting special characters or clipboard contents or nesting commands. The excellent online documentation explains all concepts extensively.

Direct Access increases the workflow almost instantly. The default command set that can be imported makes for a good start but the real strength is the ability to add custom commands that suite the needs of the user in front of the computer monitor.

The software program requires the Microsoft .net Framework 2.0 and is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Vista.

You can win one of eight licenses that have been donated by Andrea Nagar, the software developer. Just leave a comment and let us know how you would use this software.

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The software program provides two basic options. The first is to start services or applications by moving the mouse into one of the four corners of the computer monitor. Options like running a software program, locking the computer or handling windows. One action for every corner can be defined. It does work however best for the corners that are not occupied by the Taskbar especially if the taskbar is set to auto-hide.

The second option is to add the same set of functions to mouse movements. Only this time it can be activated by pressing the [Windows X] key while moving the mouse to the left, right, up or down.

The software program uses about 5 Megabytes of computer memory when running.

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Advanced Run takes the default Run dialog to the next level by providing access to several additional functions and features. It does that in the most convenient way by replacing it with its own interface and keeping the shortcuts. The first difference is the “Run as different user” option which makes it possible to run a selected application as a different user.

That’s an interesting way to load applications with a higher or lower user level or simply as a different user. It features three so called security profiles in addition to run an application with specific privileges which can be defined in the program’s option. By default the security profiles anti-spyware, maximum permitted and maximum prohibited are available with the option to create additional ones.

Another advantage are so called command templates which can be defined to launch an application with parameters. These can be stored in the database of known shortcuts which is editable as well. The list contains many of the known shortcuts like cmd to open the command line or services.msc to open Windows Services Management. It is possible to change or add commands for each shortcut to speed up the start.

Shell Verbs are supported and a list of all available shell verbs can be viewed in the main menu. A shell verb is a command like open or print followed by a path to a file.

The last option that is of importance to companies or users with multiple computers is the import and export function. The settings could be exported after configuring Advanced Run on one computer and imported on additional computers.

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The software program is driven by the global hotkey [CTRL SPACE] that opens the run box of the application launcher. Entering a char will show the first five hits in the container below and provide the means to scroll through the rest if there are more than five results.

Besides launching applications and files Key Launch can initiate Internet searches, open bookmarks, start Control Panel items, create a new email message, manage computer shutdown commands or open Internet addresses.

Every application launcher has to face off against Launchy. Key Launch is compatible to Windows Vista which Launchy is not according to the information on the Launchy homepage. Launchy on the other hand is Open Source and available for Linux which Key Launch is not.

Another advantage of Launchy is that users have created plugins and skins for the application launcher while Key Launch stands on its own as of now. Computer memory usage is similar for both application launchers with Launchy using a few additional Megabytes while running.

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The software program uses groups that can contain links to files, folders or web resources. Each group can be designed differently. The web resources could for instance display only the link text while the software applications display only the icon of the software. Icons and text can be combined as well and there are numerous ways to alter the appearance of practically any item in a group.

8start makes use of so called categories which can contain a number of groups each. Categories can be flipped like pages which means it is possible to create a smaller interface that is making use of pages to contain the same amount of information than a larger interface.

The status of each partition of the computer system can be displayed in the interface as well. It can be used to quickly access a drive. Each item displayed, be it application, web resource, folder or partition can be loaded with a single left-click of the computer mouse.

The note taking application uses a tree structure for the note taking. The main interface contains the keywords which when left-clicked will open a bigger Word-like document that can contain text and pictures that can be formatted using basic word processing controls.

A keyboard shortcut can be configured to bring the 8start interface up when needed so that it does not have to be visible on the desktop all the time.

8start is a sophisticated software applications launcher that is compatible to all Windows NT operating systems from Windows 2000 to Windows Vista.

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This provides fast access to all programs, files, folders and applications that are accessible in the dock. The icons can shape as a circle or spiral around the center. The Circle Dock is placed on top of every other open window and remains on top even if another window is activated.

New items can be simply placed in the circle by dragging and dropping them into the center. They appear in the next free place of the circle. If no free space is available a new bigger circle is created where the icon will be placed. Icons can be moved around to place the most used applications near the center for easier access.

The mouse wheel rotates the icons in the circle and a left-click loads the selected application. The program comes with more than 20 skins that provide different shapes. It’s pretty amazing how flexible that program is. You can add/remove application titles, backgrounds, increase or decrease fonts and sizes of pretty much everything so that the dock suits your needs in the end and blends perfectly with the rest of the desktop.

I’d like to mention a few interesting functions. Circle Dock is portable and Open Source. That in combination with the option to synchronize the dock with files that are located in a specified folder makes up for an interesting USB application launcher. This is also great in networks where every computer should have access to the same shortcuts. Circle Dock is also compatible with multi-monitor systems.

The software program requires Windows XP or Windows Vista in either the 32-bit or 64-bit version and the Microsoft .net Framework 3.5. The only thing that is lowering my enthusiasm for the application is the memory usage of 30 Megabytes of memory and virtual memory which is a lot for such an application.

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Orbit (discovered at the Donation Coder forum)provides a circle menu to Windows that should not be confused with the right-click menu. A middle-mouse click opens the circle menu with the five items Internet, Applications, Windows Explorer, Tasks and Configuration. Some of the items contain another circle that displays applications. The tasks item for example displays all open windows in a second circle while the Internet circle lists the three default items Internet Explorer, MSN Messenger and Outlook Express in its second circle. Those default items can be removed if they are not used or installed on the system.

New items can be added by right-clicking on a circle. If you wanted to add Firefox to the Internet circle you would right-click that circle and select New Item from the menu. The program requires a link to a file, folder or website and an icon that goes along with it. Hint: I have been using the icon search engine Icon Look to find icons for the additions which can be dragged and dropped into the configuration dialog.

Optional information like parameters can be added to some items (e.g. programs) that are added. The initial configuration takes some time, mainly to add commonly used applications, files and even bookmarks to Orbit.

What I personally like is that the middle-mouse circle menu is accessible everywhere. Most applications, like Firefox, Thunderbird or Opera use their own right-click menu which means that this is not accessible when one of those programs is open. The Orbit middle-mouse menu works fine everywhere. I have not tested it in full screen games though which is probably the only type of applications where it is blocked.

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It becomes visible if you press ALT + SPACE and old users will immediately spot the new look and feel of the software. It finally supports Windows Vista and Firefox unicode bookmarks to mention only two of the new features.

So, what can you do with it ? First of all, you can launch applications with Launchy 2 which is the main purpose of the program. Just type in the first few chars of an application and hit enter once the software is displayed that you want to start. As a basic example, to start Spider Solitaire you simply enter Spid and launchy displays Spider Solitaire on the right side of its interface.

That’s usually much quicker than clicking on Start > Programs and finding the folder of the application that you want to start. It even beats clicking on shortcuts on the desktop if you get used to it.

Instead of opening and hiding Launchy 2 users can now opt to make it stay on top and at the same time change the transparency level of the bar. I prefer the old fashioned keyboard shortcut whenever I need Launchy but some users could very well integrate it into their system.

Launchy can open bookmarks in your favorite browser as well and use shortcuts to search in Google and other websites. A Google search for instance would have the following commands. Type Google, hit TAB and enter your search string plus return at the end.
Your default browser opens showing the search results for that query. Best of all ? You can add your own search queries to Launchy with ease.

Thanks to Download Squad for letting me know about the update.

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The best thing is that you customize the toolboxes anyway you want. Add icons, make the toolbox transparent, let it remain always on top, use background images and much more to make it look the way you want it. I’m using it to display all of my drives and their free space in the left corner of my desktop. Clicking on a drive opens the root folder of that drive and displays the contents.

Toolbox is free and does not need to be installed at all. Just unpack it into a folder of your choice and run it from there. You can create two toolboxes that use predefined elements using the Wizard. One creates a toolbox with all of your drives and the other one with all your personal folders. If you do not want to use those you can create a new toolbox, change its size and add elements to it.

Looks good, feels good, one of the applications that I can recommend to every Windows user.

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This does not seem to be a great enhancement until now, groubar has one functionality that makes it a pretty usefull program. You can group applications, for instance firefox, an email client and your instant messenger. Once grouped together they can all be started / minimised at once from the sidebar. Great if you have certain applications that you do use together.

Groupbar remembers window positions and size of the tools which happens to be another nice feature. It is also possible to create snapshots of certain states. You can preview previous snapshots and restore your work state later. Snapshots are either temporary or permanent. Permanent snapshots can be created with the Create persistend snapshot function.

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