JumpTo comes as a portable version and as an installer to suit the needs of different kinds of users. Probably the easiest way to display the menu of the launcher is to press the right and then the left mouse button. This will open the menu with options to start applications, open files, folders, links, add notes and to start commands.

The application uses four default folders named folders, files, programs and links which can be filled with content easily. The names of these default folders can be changed in the program’s settings with the possibility to add new folders as well. These folders are helpful to distinguish different kinds of actions. It is on the other hand possible to place a program link into the folders folder.

New items can be added by clicking on the Add Item link that is available in every folder in the launcher. The settings are the other way of adding new items to the launcher. Only one item can be added at a time. This could be problematic for users who want to add a lot of items to the launcher. The developer should consider an option to add multiple items at once automatically with options to edit them later (use the file name as the name for the time being until it is edited by the user).

So called memos can be added to the program. Memos are notes which makes the program a simple note taking application as well. Other features include formatting text in the clipboard, adding the current date and time to the clipboard for further processing or launching a run box.

JumpTo has a small footprint. It uses less than 4 Megabytes of computer memory while running which is great for low end systems who have troubles running application launchers like Launchy. The performance is great with the menu displaying instantly after launching it with one of the possible methods. Users who want to try out JumpTo can visit the developer’s website. There they find download links and a video that is demonstrating most of the features of the excellent launcher.

Update: JumpTo is no longer available. An alternative is Launchy, a flexible fast program launcher.

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.

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.