Virgin Install: Quicksilver
When I first announced the Virgin Install series the comments were quickly filled with programs that people consider invaluable to their Mac experience. The program most often suggested just happens to be the program that might strike someone new to the Mac as inscrutable.I'm speaking, of course, of Quicksilver the application that is everything to everyone and one of TUAW's favorites. It is an application launcher, a finder replacement, a script launcher, and much more. A word of caution, though, it has a slight learning curve. When I first installed it I had no idea what to do with it, and I thought the hype was unearned. I gave it some time and now I can't think of using a Mac without it installed.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Karan Lyons said 3:58PM on 6-27-2005
Finally! This should have been the FIRST thing you installed. Spotlight sucks.
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KissTheRing said 4:08PM on 6-27-2005
I've been a consistant mac user for 2 months now and I'm still learning a few things. The appeal of quickstilver is one thing that I haven't learned. What about a post that is a quick guide to using it effectively.
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nailerr said 4:27PM on 6-27-2005
Am I so blind I can't find the damn link? On none of these Virgin Install posts do I anywhere find a link to the actual article, why?!
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Weave73 said 5:01PM on 6-27-2005
Spotlight doesn't suck. Its not an app launcher.
I've played around with both and I defintely prefer Butler to Quicksilver, but I have a feeling that its whichever one you were using first.
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Robert Knight said 6:50PM on 6-27-2005
The beauty of Quicksilver is the ability it gives you to access folders deep in your file system in seconds and open the exact application you want regardless of its location.
Example:
I use my Podcast download application once a week to get a few podcasts that I listen to. Since I only use it once a week, I don't keep it in my Dock. Using Quicksilver, I hit control-space, type three letters of the app's name and hit enter. Poof, the app opens. I didn't have to go into Macintosh HD > Applications and scroll down to the correct icon and double click.
It works the same way with documents in your documents folder and other locations you select to include in the search.
I know it may seem like a small gripe to have to double-click on a few folders to do the same thing. I felt the same way before I used it. But it is just so fast and you can get to things so quickly and easily, it becomes truly indispensible after only a few uses. Especially if you use a lot of programs or open a number of documents over the course of a day. It has an elegant look and just sits in the background until you need it. I don't like to have a cluttered dock, so I have my most frequently used apps in the dock and the rest I can get to easily with Quicksilver.
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Kesey said 7:00PM on 6-27-2005
I blogged about this a while ago and put together a collection of links and How-To's to help you get through the learning curve:
http://www.nodrm.com/?p=120
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Guille said 12:05AM on 6-28-2005
"When I first installed it I had no idea what to do with it, and I thought the hype was unearned."
I felt exactly this way until I visisted the links mentioned by Kesey. Thanks for the info!
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Joseph Papier said 4:41AM on 7-11-2005
"Spotlight doesn't suck. Its not an app launcher. "
Yeah man, you are right. The point is that it's neither a app launcher, nor a search tool! It NEVER finds my documents, even if I type the full exact name.
PLEASE Apple, give us back Panther's search tool!
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