Filed under: Software, Cool tools, Freeware
Fumo Quicksilver Interface: smokin'
Okay, I'm perfectly willing to concede that, practically speaking, this is utterly pointless; nonetheless, it's pretty dang cool. Ankur Kothari (whom we've featured a couple of times before) is working on a new interface for TUAW favorite Quicksilver, which he calls Fumo. The interface is still a work in progress, but he's released a preview version that includes the infamous smoke effects courtesy of the Disco developers. Fumo itself is an interesting idea, incorporated all three of the bezel interface's panes into a single box (the center well is the equivalent of the left pane, the action (middle pane) is above the well, and the object is below).
Fumo is a free download from Ankur's site, the Vacuous Virtuoso (there's also a non-smoking version if you're a square). To see where Fumo is heading, check out the original concept, inspired by Automator.
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
wako said 4:17PM on 4-08-2007
DAMNIT!
For QuickSilver, I dont have the icon on my menubar, so only way to get to the QS preference pane is through the interface (that little arrow that points down for the QS menu). Now that I installed this beta interface I cant change it back to the Bezel interface! Anyone know how I can change it back?!
Reply
Alex said 4:22PM on 4-08-2007
Invoke the QS prompt, then hit Cmd-, (command-comma) for the Preferences window.
Reply
Serge said 4:30PM on 4-08-2007
No smoke (waited for five-six seconds). Plus, the litte square is not centered and there's no way to move it.
Reply
Unkie said 4:34PM on 4-08-2007
there is smoke. it's just not centered correctly. and you can move the square by dragging it by the bottom portion. i actually kinda like it but the smoke isn't done properly so i'll have to use the non-smoke version
Reply
Mat Lu said 4:52PM on 4-08-2007
@3: did you install the Smoke framework?
Reply
vidal van Bergen said 5:39PM on 4-08-2007
Your mac might not support the smoke if it's a few years old.
Reply
rik154 said 5:40PM on 4-08-2007
I always keep QS in my menu bar. I invoke it and it just pops out of the upper left-hand corner of the menu bar. I use the double-command to invoke it. unintrusive and it just works... very much the Mac way.
Reply
Serge said 5:43PM on 4-08-2007
Mat,
The Smoke framework was installed and I have a iMac 24 (should meet the minimum requirements ;)). I'll give it another try.
Reply
Hawk said 6:11PM on 4-08-2007
oddly enough, the smoke effect caused Expose to wig out.. I'd get corruption, or I'd get everything turning black for a second when I switched apps.
Reply
andrew harrison said 7:07PM on 4-08-2007
i use the bar interface, and i changed the colour to white [after playing with it in red for a bit]
it doesn't interfere with anyhting, it's out of the way even when in use, and takes up a lot less room. the white helps it blend in with the regular mac interface. it's lovely.
Reply
Ankur said 9:16PM on 4-08-2007
Thanks for the mention. Oddly enough, that's the second time the site's been called the "Vacuous Virtuos" instead of the "Vacuous Virtuoso". Not a big deal, though.
Anyway, thanks to everyone who provided feedback, and hopefully a lot of the issues and annoyances people have can be fixed up by the next preview release.
Thanks again!
Reply
Kam said 11:11PM on 4-08-2007
I got trouble using vitrue desktop after installing this. They are using the same resource and it makes both of them crash. Just wasted 15 min of my time.
Reply
Franco Colon said 10:42AM on 4-09-2007
I think this is pretty cool looking, and at the very least the smoke-less version still looks nice. I had decided on using the smoke-less version because of the extended bad looking smoke until I noticed someone in the comments on his site uploaded a fixed version. Until this is no longer a preview and the final version is available I'll settle for this, haha. I noticed that the smoke doesn't show up very much until I actually start using quicksilver. Simply invoking it doesn't seem to start up the smoke. Even then, sometimes the smoke is a little slow to float up from behind the top of the box. All in all though, I like the direction this is going.
Reply
Marlon said 10:54AM on 4-09-2007
#9, Re: oddly enough, the smoke effect caused Expose to wig out.. I'd get corruption, or I'd get everything turning black for a second when I switched apps.
This happens to me too, it's nothing to worry about, is it?
Reply
taupecat said 10:58AM on 4-09-2007
Thanks, I'll take the non-smoking version. Cool interface even so, and I'd rather not be exposed to any more 2nd hand smoke than necessary.
Reply
taupecat said 11:19AM on 4-09-2007
Okay, just installed the non-smoking version, and Adium totally wigged out on me. Disappearing text in the chat window, weird overlay with flash from a browser window in, hello, a DIFFERENT monitor... Strangeness. Switched back to Primer, and Adium problems went away!
Reply
Jay Allen said 4:18PM on 4-09-2007
Yeah, I had some really weird GUI errors from running this too. Black windows, really odd behavior for all windows on a second display attached to my MacBook.
Looks promising, but needs work.
Reply
Ankur said 7:50AM on 4-10-2007
The black box problem has been fixed. As well as other updates, support for the comma trick has been added along with fixed up smoke, and the ability to choose the characteristics of the smoke.
Please let me know if you still experience problems with this version. Get it at:
http://dev.lipidity.com/apple/quicksilver-interface-fumo-updated
Reply
Tom Nelson said 7:39PM on 4-14-2007
This thing won't smoke for me. Yes, I installed the smoke framework, and I don't think my Mac's too old (Powerbook G4 12" 1.5GHz with Tiger). Any ideas?
Reply