Key Launch Application Launcher
Key Launch is an application launcher for Windows that can launch applications but also commands with just a few keystrokes. Application launchers speed up working with the operating system but require a period of vocational adjustment before the user can utilize their full potential.
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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Having used quite a few of the launchers including launchy, the one I always go back to is slickrun from Bayden Systems, even though it is windows only.
Launchy works fine in Vista. Also Executor is the Launchy killer.
Oddly enough, Launchy has been giving me a strange issue recently where it begins to eat up almost 300mb of ram and I have to force quit.
So I switched to Enso just to test it out and it’s pretty good. I used a lot of different launchers, but I haven’t really found one I really liked until launchy, but clearly using that is an issue now.
Executor is amazingly awful! The hotkey never works! Horrible design, horrible idea, horrible everything.
Just use some launchy plugins to get it to do what you want.
@Nic Moon
Please drop the crack pipe…
Executor is great! The hotkey works all the time! The idea is excellent and so is the design, very powerful and useful program!
@Tjoakim
I don’t understand how they can make a few modifications to the Launchy interface and suddenly their crappy (because it is) freeware program is the norm. The only reason it is not open source is because they know someone could easily make it much better than it already is.
As for the hotkey I had one of the earlier releases, and it is possible that it was my keyboard (sadly my G15 was dying).