Quicksilver: “Application Launcher on Steriods”

Posted by Dustin Schau on 02/16/07 in Applications, Utilities

Quicksilver is one of those apps that I’m sure those of us in the Mac community hear about all the time, but for some reason or another, we never give it a chance and try it out. Well, I strongly suggest that you try out Quicksilver. If you learn how to use it correctly, it will quickly become part of your daily tasks, and you won’t be able to live without it.

Quicksilver app

Quicksilver does have somewhat of a learning curve, but as with most apps with a learning curve, once you do “learn” the program, you can’t be without it. Quicksilver is accessed by a quick key stroke (default is Ctrl + Space) and from there you are greeted with the main window (named Primer). From here is where the “magic” happens. Quicksilver has a plethora of built in features, but one of its strong points would have to be the massive array of plugins, enhancements, other UI’s, etc. that can be installed and make Quicksilver even more powerful.

Quicksilver at the basic core is considered an application launcher, but there are so many things you can do after you type in the application’s name, that it is sometimes amazing. It has a search features, and you can look up documents, pictures, etc. and move them somewhere else, you can rename them, you can make them invisible…there is just so much you can do with Quicksilver.

I strongly suggest anyone who hasn’t yet tried Quicksilver out, to click the link above, download it, and I’m sure your future Mac computing will forever be altered (in a good way, of course…!). Please check out Quicksilver.

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7 Comment(s)

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shadownight said on

February 16th, 2007 at 12:59 pm

One thing nice to point out for new QS users is how to get the interface we always see in screenshots, called Bezel. To use that interface, go to the Appearance section of the Prefs (Press Command-, with the QS interface to the front). You’ll see a pop-up menu that lets you select Bezel instead of Primer.

Andre said on

February 16th, 2007 at 3:34 pm

Meh, I tried it but didn’t like it.

-1

Yohannes Wijaya said on

February 16th, 2007 at 3:53 pm

@shadownight : try even the cube interface. it’s really wicked.
@ Andre: is it because you’re overwhelmed @ what you can do w/ it?
Anyway, Qs is an extremely powerful application. what it can do, is up to your imagination; from adding contact/reminder to your ical to resizing images. The potential is infinite. there is a definite learning curve here. one should not expect to be proficient @ it in a few minutes. it takes me a day or two to get a hang of it by consulting the manual, tutorials out there, or what have you. Even after using it for 2 years, I am still learning it. This is THE single app that I use most at any given time. I cant imagine living w/o it. There are countless of guides on how to use Qs. One starting place: http://mysite.verizon.net/hmelman/Quicksilver.pdf

and for those who has used Qs before, here is a tip on how to use QS w/o using the “enter” key: http://blacktree.cocoaforge.com/forums//viewtopic.php?p=23273#23273

Indraneel said on

February 16th, 2007 at 4:07 pm

I like the fact that it adapts to what you do.

John Baker said on

February 16th, 2007 at 4:16 pm

I would’ve called this “Quicksilver: Can You Live Without It For More Than Five Seconds?”

It’s so funny… the other day I had to quit Quicksilver to install a script, and I tried to relaunch Quicksilver with Quicksilver even though it was closed because I was so used to hitting Command-Space to launch apps.

alej744 said on

February 19th, 2007 at 7:13 pm

The flashlight (?) interface is my fave.
Btw, typo: Steroids

emma said on

April 9th, 2007 at 5:51 am

cool blog!