LaunchBar: Quicksilver who?

Posted by Daniel Greg on 10/2/07 in Productivity, Utilities

When I first started using a Mac, I was told that I needed an application called Quicksilver to really unlock the my Macs potential. Even though Quicksilver was created to do more than just launch applications, I tried it and just never got on with it. It seemed slow and unresponsive, and really turned me off application launchers; however, certain people had started telling me how great LaunchBar, is, so I thought I’d check it out.

I will start off by saying this application blew me away. I am currently running a 1st gen MacBook and I could not believe how snappy this app was. It puts spotlight (and Quicksilver, in my opinion) to shame.

That said, let me explain a little more about what LaunchBar is. Here’s what their website says:

LaunchBar is an award winning productivity utility that provides instant access to your applications, documents, contacts and bookmarks, to your iTunes library, to search engines and more, just by entering short abbreviations of the searched item’s name.

The launch bar looks like this:

LaunchBar

This bar drops down from your menu-bar when you hit the keyboard shortcut of your choice. (Mine is set to command-space). You then type the first few letters of what you want to launch/open and it presents you with a list (instantly - and usually the first one is what your after) of applications/iTunes song/folder/etc. I could spend ages going over each little bit of functionality but I will just pick out a few highlights; if you’re interested in the complete list, head over to their website.

As far as features go - it’s the simplest that are some of the best. This thing is unbelievably fast. I mean instant, even on my CoreDuo MacBook. Adding to this speed, it seems that 99% of the time, what you’re after appears within the first few letters of your typing. In short, Launchbar has made me blisteringly fast around my Mac.

It also has some really neat features other than just launching apps. You can navigate your files and hit tab to bring up an open-with segment, then type to choose the app to open the file with, and you’re ready to go.

Command-G also pulls in the current selection in finder into Launchbar, which you can then manipulate. For example, say I have an image selected on the desktop. I hit Command-Space (to bring up LaunchBar) Command-G (to bring in the finder selection), then Tab to select an app to open with. Of course this is a huge advantage if there is a long list, as all I have to do is start typing and the result list is automatically narrowed.

Here’s another time saver. Bring up LaunchBar and hit full stop; it changes to an “Open Location” bar - you then type the name of a site (.com is automatically added unless you add a different extension), hit return and it opens the site in your default browser - very neat. This, for me, has changed how I use my Mac - and I love it. It has gotten to the stage where I feel really slow without LaunchBar; it makes that much of a difference. I really suggest you at least give it a try and see how you get on with it. I was hesitant at first, but i now cannot live without it.

LaunchBar is shareware ($20) and you can find it on their website.

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Brutal said on

October 2nd, 2007 at 7:08 am

Quicksilver is damn snappy on my 1st generation Macbook - AND it’s free.

MB-switcher said on

October 2nd, 2007 at 7:18 am

I agree…why pay for a software if you can get the same with a whole lot more features? I am sticking with quicksilver and despite the article quicksilver runs smoothly on my macbook also.

steve said on

October 2nd, 2007 at 7:20 am

i really can’t imagine something being faster than quicksilver

E.T.Cook said on

October 2nd, 2007 at 7:43 am

You are painfully off track with review…faster than quicksilver? Hardly.

You need to fix your computer if that is the case.

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alphacrumb said on

October 2nd, 2007 at 8:01 am

I agree with everyone else so far. Quicksilver is damn fast on my own Macbook. And everything you’ve mentioned about LaunchBar can be done in almost the same way in Quicksilver (with nary a mouse click in sight), and then some: forget about instant web links — how about actually searching a site like IMDB or Amazon right from Quicksilver.

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gregsgraphics said on

October 2nd, 2007 at 8:39 am

Gotta agree with the writer… tried Quicksilver several times and it seemed to always be sluggish. Other than that they seem pretty equal for what I need them for.

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carbmac said on

October 2nd, 2007 at 8:48 am

I agree with the writer too. I tried both Quicksilver and Launbar, finally bought Launchbar after finding it faster, and more intuitive. Also, Quicksilver was prone to crashing on my Powermac. Launchbar has been stable since day 1.

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Insomnic said on

October 2nd, 2007 at 9:04 am

I’m running Quicksilver on my Powerbook and it seems quick. Plus I like having access to my delicious bookmarks directly in my launcher (and multiple search engines, and iTunes control).

Also… price. Hard to beat free. I’m not even a power quicksilver user. Some of the things people get Quicksilver to do for them are impressive.

Daniel Greg said on

October 2nd, 2007 at 9:08 am

Hi guys,
Nice to see ive sparked some controversy (thought I might). I think Quicksilver’s speed depends on how much data your searching on. Ive seen it really snappy on a G3… with about 5 gigs of data.
I agree (and probably should have put in the post) Quicksilver’s price is impossible to beat, but I found that launchbar clicked for me, whereas Quicksilver didnt. Specifically when typing - I found Quicksilver gave me a noticeable pause.
Definitely a matter of taste, but if you dont get on with Quicksilver I really suggest you try out Launchbar.

useEvil said on

October 2nd, 2007 at 9:42 am

I do notice there is a bit of a lag when typing in Quicksilver, but it’s not sluggish by any means. The plus with Quicksilver is the power that it gives you to do so much more than just opening apps and urls. I’ve only used 10% of what Quicksilver can do. I can control iTunes, setup quick keys to open applications, execute apple scripts, access to address book contacts, mail, calendar and so on. I just recently found a tip to lookup selected words in a Dictionary or Thesaurus with a keyboard shortcut. The plug-in architecture allows you to do so much more.

Daniel Greg said on

October 2nd, 2007 at 9:48 am

@useEvil
LaunchBar does a lot more aswell - by no means is it just an app launcher, their site has all the details.
It has similar features with the dictionary and thesaurus.
I think that seasoned QS users wont get on with LB tbh, however some people (like myself) get on with it much better.
For example - I dont think Merlin Mann would be switching

steve said on

October 2nd, 2007 at 10:40 am

i guess its a matter of preference but I don’t see how you could justify spending 20 bucks on something like this when quicksilver is free. Where would it stop with apps like this,i feel like i would be broke in a week.

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Rebby said on

October 2nd, 2007 at 10:42 am

Almost any app that has to build and maintain an index will have moments of lag. You might notice such lag when starting up the spotlight. The same goes for Quicksilver. However, once said data is indexed, the app should respond more quick(silver)ly, assuming the app is designed and coded halfway decently.

I’d encourage anyone that was thrown by Quicksilver to try again, simply from the fact that it does nearly anything you want it to and ties into just about every popular product for mac.

Consider the amount of functionality listed in this cheatsheet:
http://mysite.verizon.net/hmelman/QSRef.pdf

-rebby

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john said on

October 2nd, 2007 at 11:09 am

Quicksilver sluggish? I’m using a 1st gen MacBook as well and it’s fast as hell. I started off with 1GB of RAM (now have 2) and with both specs it runs nice and fast. Don’t really see a need to pay for LaunchBar…but that’s me.

Mundo said on

October 2nd, 2007 at 11:49 am

I think the reviewer is way, way, way off track. Quicksilver is FAST! You have to be really fast (I mean really fast) at your keyboard to keep up with it. Which one is faster? Well, I haven’t tried LaunchBar, but it will sure suck $20.00 very, very fast out of my pocket.

Daniel Greg said on

October 2nd, 2007 at 12:55 pm

@Remmy - its that exact delay that I don’t get on LB, hence I mentioned spotlight aswell as Quicksilver.
Btw - just as a disclaimer I wasnt saying QS sucked - clearly some of you are loyal users and thats great.
But seriously - i looked at launchbar and quicksilver, and on my machine LB was faster. Typing was as smooth as silk.
Therefore I put it in the post. It seems to me that a lot of you are just saying that QS is fast, but havn’t tried LB to compare the 2.
I may be completely wrong on that. But just saying QS is fast doesnt mean that LB isnt faster.

Fred Zelders said on

October 2nd, 2007 at 2:11 pm

After trying both Quicksilver and Launbar, finally decided for Launchbar.
It’s worth every penny: It’s faster (iMac Inet Core 2 duo, 2 Gigs) and much more intuitive.

Fred Zelders said on

October 2nd, 2007 at 2:12 pm

After trying both Quicksilver and Launchbar, finally decided for Launchbar.
It’s worth every penny: It’s faster (iMac Intel Core 2 duo, 2 Gigs) and much more intuitive.

Sai said on

October 2nd, 2007 at 4:46 pm

Actually, the greatest part is that there are two great apps that do the same thing.

I’m partial to Quicksilver, but competition is by no means a bad thing.

MB-switcher said on

October 2nd, 2007 at 6:28 pm

well…i can agree on the intuiveness of other launcher applications…quicksilver sure is not easy to use at the beginning…I also almost ditched quicksilver but I am glad that I have put in some time (2 days) reading tutorials and the help file and it sure was worth it and very rewarding. I suggest to anyone who is new to quicksilver to read some tutorials and howtos before deciding on another app. If you still feel quicksilver isn’t something for your launchbar might be a worthy alternative.

Yong Hwee said on

October 2nd, 2007 at 7:50 pm

Quicksilver does a lot more than Launchbar and it’s price is unbeatable. Not sure if I will spend $20 on an app launcher.

Shane said on

October 2nd, 2007 at 7:59 pm

I currently use QS, but I have issues where it freezes and crashes at both home and work (iMac and Mac mini). Other times it’s slow to open or start searching. I put up with it cause it is a time-saver. However if someone else does the same thing without crashing or slowing down… I’d spend the money.

Dean said on

October 2nd, 2007 at 11:01 pm

Quicksilver: +1
Paying for something that does less: -2

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-2

seyDoggy said on

October 2nd, 2007 at 11:22 pm

“It puts spotlight (and Quicksilver, in my opinion) to shame.”

Your kidding right? Just messing around with us? That’s a good one. Spotlight I’ll give you, but Quicksilver? Pfpfpfpf… I don’t think so. In the time it takes you to find and launch an app in LaunchBar, I can simultaneously launch and open a recent item in any given app, run an Applescript, perform a terminal command, send a stikkit, email a friend, and look up the definition of Bloatware (bloatware |ˈblōtˌwe(ə)r|noun informal Computing: software whose usefulness is reduced because of the excessive disk-space and memory it requires.)… all from Quicksilver.

Try that in LaunchBar.

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Daniel Greg said on

October 3rd, 2007 at 2:59 am

@seyDoggy - Im guessing youve never used launchbar.
all of those except the sticket I think can be performed from LB.

seyDoggy said on

October 3rd, 2007 at 8:29 am

@Daniel Greg;
As a matter of fact I have tried several times to make some use out of LaunchBar but to no avail. And just for strength in my argument I just tried version 4. It is considerably faster than past versions but certainly no faster than Quicksilver. I have just finished reading the manual and everything is still less intuitive than it could be and is still not extensible the way Quicksilver is. With Quicksilver I can post to twitter, Jaiku, a WordPress blog, gmail, mail, ftp, resize images, send an event to Google calendar or ical or iGTD, upload pictures to flickr (or anywhere else for that matter)… and on and on and on. Quicksilver can do just about anything I can imagine and many things I can’t. LaunchBar doesn’t go much beyond “Open with” at this time. That’s not to say it won’t in the future but I see no point in paying for something that does less than and is not extensible like Quicksilver.

The bottom line is, when you post with an obviously inflammatory heading like “LaunchBar: Quicksilver who?” you have to be ready for the heat. Perhaps a direct and objective comparison of the two would have sparked an interesting debate. But instead you have the majority of those who commented refuting your statements.

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Daniel Greg said on

October 3rd, 2007 at 9:06 am

@SeyDoggy
Well glad to see you at least tried.
The post was a review of LB as opposed to a comparison of the 2.
In fact most commenters are saying, “yeah ok take your point but I prefer QS, and heres why” , which is totally understandable. Some are more inclined to LB, but I think its a bit needless to get all defensive over a piece of software. It is by and large a good thread with good points made (there are of course exceptions, like in anything) as opposed to dumb comments not backed up by anything.
My bottom line is (as written in the article) - LB is definitely something to try, especially if you don’t get on with QS. At no point did I say QS sucked or something equally childish. Instead I pointed out that QS seemed much slower to me.
But the notion that I should be “ready for the heat” because I posted a review of a product that competes with one that a lot of people like is ridiculous - yes I expected a lot of counterpoints but that is not “heat”, this is not a place for fanboy-like rantings, purely because someone prefers a different product.
Having said that, I have seen none of these really, people disagreeing with me have explained why, and backed it up with evidence (including yourself).
At the end of the day, every review posted on MacApper is opinion, and should be treated like such. If you disagree, thats what the comments are for. But they are there for discussion not just to have a go at the reviewer (or “the heat” as you referred to it).

steve said on

October 3rd, 2007 at 9:31 am

god i wish i had my mac at work

-1

seyDoggy said on

October 3rd, 2007 at 9:35 am

@Daniel Greg;
Of all words that I considered using I didn’t expect “heat” to have this much impact, but anyhow…

I hope you don’t think I was having a go at you. I just took exception to that single remark of “It puts spotlight (and Quicksilver, in my opinion) to shame” and the seemingly inflammatory title. That’s all.

There is nothing wrong with LaunchBar for what it is (if not for what it’s worth) but to pit it against another app that is nearly playing a different sport, let alone in a different league. LaunchBar and Quicksilver don’t draw enough parallels to say that LaunchBar puts Quicksilver to shame. This I think would have come out in a direct comparison, like, “you can have apples or you can have oranges, but guess what? They can both make juice!” There is a commonality in their starting points but they paths they take after that seem too different to say that one puts another to shame in one aspect or another.

As I said earlier, I can do a lot with Quicksilver that others would most definitely find useless, so as you say, perhaps LaunchBar is their alternative. I see no ’shame putting’ there. I am not a Quicksilver ‘fanboy’ (or perhaps I am), I just prefer objectivity over inflammatory and tend to react in the inverse to my preferences when I read rhetoric like “puts so-and-so to shame” and what-not.

Anyhow, it has been an interesting discussion and I apologize if I have put you under any undue duress over this.

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-1

Daniel Greg said on

October 3rd, 2007 at 9:57 am

@SeyDoggy - :D, I admit I think I misjudged your tone, can be hard on comments!
But yes tbh, if I could edit I would take out the puts QS to shame bit :p.
I think the issue for me is - I dont use all of QS’s features, at all. I agree that it has a tonne more than LB. But those that I used most often I found LB to be better at.
But hey!, each to there own

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seyDoggy said on

October 3rd, 2007 at 10:22 am

@Daniel Greg;
“But hey!, each to there own” Fair enough. That is a statement I can get behind.

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cacibi said on

October 3rd, 2007 at 10:42 am

Well I for one thank you for the review. I’ve downloaded and purchased the software. Had tried Quicksilver before but never ‘bonded’ with it. LB seems much more intuitive to me.

Mundo said on

October 3rd, 2007 at 11:49 am

@Daniel Greg
“Well glad to see you at least tried.
The post was a review of LB as opposed to a comparison of the 2″.

Seems to me that when you say “It puts spotlight (and Quicksilver, in my opinion) to shame.” it is a direct comparison, non-objective review. I suggest you read the reviews at MacWorld on both QS and LaunchBar to see how reviews that suggest alternatives are done.

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Daniel Greg said on

October 3rd, 2007 at 11:59 am

@Mundo
No that was a lead into the piece. If i wanted to compare the 2 I would compare the features.

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Jimmni said on

October 5th, 2007 at 6:00 am

I try Quicksilver every 6 months or so, and always find it to be slower, more invasive and less able to predict what I mean than LaunchBar. I like the bar at the top, and never found a theme for Quicksilver that I was happy with. Most importantly, though, is that LaunchBar predicts and learns what I mean by usn or mp or ps far, far quicker and more accurately than Quicksilver. LaunchBar almost never fails to offer me what I meant as the first result, whereas I’d often be scrolling around the possibilities in Quicksilver. LaunchBar is probably my most indispensable Mac app!

MJ Valente said on

October 5th, 2007 at 5:52 pm

I wouldn’t say Qs is slow. In fact it behaved quite well in my MBP, even if it crashed 3 or 4 times a week. However, after trying LB I could not go back to Qs: LB is indeed faster and more stable; more so, it has a very easygoing learning curve (all the capabilities).

In the end I would say that I alway thought Qs could make a toast if it we wanted . However, I LB is better in what it does. For me that’s worth the price I payed (about $12 in a promo). For other users, maybe not.

John L said on

October 9th, 2007 at 8:47 pm

Gotta say, I have a paid license for LaunchBar; I abandoned the sucker for QuickSilver long ago.

As for the delays, these are all a matter or how many catalogs you have, and a whole ton of additional issues; you can optimize your settings as necessary.

As for what they do, LaunchBar covers only a small subset of the functionality you can find in QuickSilver + plugins.

Stephen said on

October 11th, 2007 at 12:05 am

These are both great apps, and LaunchBar was out long before Quicksilver was ever publicly released. The people at Objective Development really do deserve money for such clean slick coding. LaunchBar is very fast and responsive, VERY stable. I love quicksilver, I use it constantly and use many of its features, but there are the occasional unexpected quits from QS, I’d say its roughly monthly or bi-monthly that QS crashes on me, which is by no means horrible, especially considering all the data its looking through and all the plugins I have loaded.

But LaunchBar is always stable and always quick, a very dependable tool. It probably has a lot more features than what most people expect, it’s got most of the iTunes integration that QS fans like. Its got web search links pre-configured when you first start it up. The main limitation when comparing the two is that LB doesn’t have very many actions it can apply to an item aside for GO or MAKE IT SO.

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avinator said on

October 19th, 2007 at 12:00 pm

I tried them all and found launch bar to be best. 20.00 bucks will not break anyones budget - consider how much we are spending on our macs

Try them all and you will find launch bar is the most accurate and responsive… well worth the $20.00

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Donald Perreault said on

October 28th, 2007 at 9:05 am

I agree with author, Launchbar just works blazing fast and perfectly. I have tried Quickesilver and always end up back to Launchbar.

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Xolani Bagenda said on

October 30th, 2007 at 1:26 pm

My nature is to opt for free software whenever I can. Have a long background in using the command line & all the associated gems that enable me to type as little as possible… For this reason, I was attracted to QS & keep coming back to it to give it another try… Its possibly me, but it does not seem as intuitive as I expected it… It does almost everything but take out the trash… I have found though, that for the things that I do often, LB seems to be more intuitive, more stable & quicker on the draw..(mbpro 17 2GB ram)…(& “seems” leaner…) …. I thus spent the dough…

Nimbler said on

April 11th, 2008 at 12:43 pm

Anybody ever try Butler? I have been using it for a few yrs and it seems to lick Quicksilver. I never tried Launchbar because of the cost.

Peace

Mike said on

July 10th, 2008 at 3:20 pm

I guess it is a matter of opinion, but I think that Launchbar is worth the 20 bucks. Quicksilver is very handy, and of course free, but the stability issues I had made the 20 bucks seem null. Butler (like the previous poster said) is a good alternative to Quicksilver.

-Mike
http://www.freethemac.com

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Geoff said on

August 7th, 2008 at 2:56 pm

Another vote for LaunchBar. When I switched to Mac, I was so excited about using QuickSilver. I found it laggy and somewhat unintuitive, and moved happily to LaunchBar when I got it in the MacHeist bundle. I now use it on all my machines.

Like Daniel, I’m not saying don’t use QS. If you like it, fine. It wasn’t right for me.

Also, I have an older PowerBook G4. Spotlight was agonizingly slow, QS lagged, but LaunchBar remains a snappy and faithful assistant. I’d feel crippled without it.

Yes, Merlin Mann uses QS, but he also uses OmniFocus, which is definitely not for everyone in terms of usability.

Related: Try Launchy if you’re stuck on Windows at work. (And now it’s available for Linux as well!)

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