Launchy windows 8 alternative

It is very similar to hitting the Windows key in Windows 8. I am four months into my first Windows 10 machine. As a result, I have been forcing myself to use the native Windows 10 search, but I find it totally inferior to Launchy in many ways. Contrast this to Windows 10, where to open my password safe, I have to type pwsafe.

There are some non-open source ones as well that might be worth a look if one is less fussy than I am — Keypirinha , Listary , and Executor. Your email address will not be published. Skip to content Launchy is an open source keystroke launcher for Windows.

Fixable with some tweaks though. Starting applications on high resolution displays seems to load them in a weird mode where they are blurry. With the introduction of the Superbar in Windows Vista, and its evolution into the fancy Start Menu that graces the Windows 8 UI, it's generally pretty effective to use search for finding files and applications to run as you go about your day. This feature in combination with Superfetch, gave Windows users a more snappy way to interface with their computers, almost on par with the experience that Mac OS X Spotlight and Ubuntu Unity provide.

However, some software developers feel that Microsoft could do even better, and one tool aims to build upon the Windows desktop interaction with even more efficiency. Launchy will not only open applications and documents for you, but you can actually go above and beyond in such a way that the default Windows way will seem quite pedestrian.

For instance, you can issue commands ala CMD style , open web pages, and even perform basic math equations right within the app, with no need to load anything extra. It also makes using a keyboard less painful in Windows if you prefer not to touch your mouse that much.

As far as the interface is concerned, Launchy is surprisingly customizable. You can adjust the opacity and fading effects, window positioning, how typing suggestions are delivered, and there is even a portable mode, which allows you to carry a self-contained version of Launchy, with preferences stored in INI files versus the system registry. This can be changed as well if you have that key combination reserved for something else. The skin can be adjusted at will to suit your personal tastes and preferences via the Skins tab within the options menu.

In addition to the six built-in skins provided with Launchy, you can also download additional ones, either from the author's website or from other third-parties. If you know where to look, I have even seen skins show up on sites like DeviantArt. Plugins for Launchy, which can help extend the usefulness and functionality of the tool, are also available from the author's site. One plugin I found that was useful was Killy, which grants you the power to end applications and processes without having to touch Task Manager.

Basically, you type "killy" followed by the tab key, then the name of the application you wish to kill. Finally, if you are looking to expand the scope of Launchy's index, allowing the software to touch other file types and scan other disks, you can set up additional paths which can be scanned whenever you start to type into the Launchy starter box.

For the average user, the defaults are usually just fine. But for some, being able to touch executable files and other file types stored elsewhere can be a great boon.