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Mar 05

Launchy 2.0 Review & Screenshots

Posted in: Features, Freeware, Pre-Release, Reviews, Screenshots, Software, Today's Chili

This article was written on October 08, 2007 by CyberNet.

Launchy 2 Alpha

Launchy is one of the best application launchers available, and it is about to get a lot better with version 2 that is right around the corner. Just today Launchy 2.0 Alpha 8 was quietly released in the Launchy forum, and I’ve been using previous Alpha’s for over a week. Despite being early in the development process it is incredibly stable.

So what’s new? I’ve found the biggest thing to be the revamped Options dialog, which I’ve included screenshots of below. Aside from that the whole program has been rewritten in a programming language called QT, and I think there are a lot of rewards for making the switch from MFC. Overall the Launchy 2.0 Alpha interface seems more responsive than the older stable versions.

–New Features–

Fade in and fade out special effects
User adjustable opaqueness and fade times
Adjustable dropdown length
Completes folders (e.g. my documents) into paths
Can now edit directories by double clicking them
Can use environment variables in directories (e.g. %USERPROFILE%)
Skin selection now shows previews of skins
No longer have to restart Launchy to use a new plugin or skin
Plugin options are integrated into the options dialog
Launchy can automatically hide when it loses focus
Launchy can now shallow scan a directory (customizable depth)
Launchy index/options/exit now work, try typing “launchy” tab “options”
Much better plugin customization

–Options–

The best thing that has happened to this version of Launchy is the unified Options screen. Everything is now placed in a nice tabbed interface instead of having several different windows for skins, plugins, and settings (click thumbnail for fullsize version):