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Mac OS X  |  System / Utilities  |  Shutdown / Launch Utilities  |  Butler

Butler

Butler - 4.0b27

launcher, bookmark manager...

All Time: (4.7)
Version 4.0b27: (5.0)
Selected Version: 4.0b27
Release Date: 2005-10-28
License: Beta
Downloads (version 4.0b27): 1,908
Downloads (all versions): 5,168

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Product Description:

What is Butler?

A file launcher.
You can access applications and any other kind of document by browsing fully customizable system-wide spring-loaded menus, pressing hot keys, clicking hot corners, or entering abbreviations. Butler will learn from your habits and remember what you want a certain abbreviation to do (e.g., enter "abo" to launch "Address Book").

A bookmark manager.
Butler offers you a way to manage your bookmarks without depending on a certain browser. In contrary to a browser's bookmark collection, Butler's bookmarks are always accessible through its system-wide menus, hot keys, etc. And you'll certainly become addicted to accessing bookmarks by entering abbreviations. Butler also lets you access the bookmarks of every single browser there is for Mac OS X.
Adding files or URLs from your browser to Butler's configuration is stunningly easy: Just drag them to the active screen corner (default: top left), see Butler's main window open, and drop your items somewhere whithin your configuration.

A web search utility.
Butler's predecessor "Another Launcher" was the first application that let you search the web from the menu bar. But if your menu bar is too crowded for an input field, you can also use hot keys to pop up dedicated web search windows. Butler supports a large number of search engines by default, but you are not restricted to those ? you can easily add your own search engines.

A pasteboard extension.
Butler lets you access items you have previously stored in your pasteboard, effectively turning your pasteboard into a stack. You can also take a snapshot of your current pasteboard and keep it for good. This feature is particularly useful for text snippets you need to enter on a regular basis.

And so much more...
You can use Butler to move and copy files, control iTunes, access the system preferences, change the current user, and so on. But Butler really shines when it comes to customizing its behavior. Is your menu bar too crowded? Use Butler's docklet! Do you want a menu for each mounted volume? Do you want a menu to pop up when you press a certain hot key? Do you want all running applications in your menu bar? Or do you prefer doing things with your keyboard only? Whatever kind of interface you prefer, Butler is at your service.

What's new in this version:

  • Fixed a regression that made it impossible to access snail mail addresses and phone numbers via abbreviation.
  • Fixed a regression where Butler's web search functionality misbehaved under certain conditions.
  • Fixed a regression that made Butler display container contents in a pop-up menu instead of correctly launching them sequentially under certain conditions.
  • Fixed a regression that caused (nearly) all menu items to be disabled when files were dragged to Butler's menus.
  • Fixed a regression where pasteboard-related Smart Items did not obey to their "Change order of recent pasteboards" setting under certain conditions.
  • Fixed a bug where deleting the topmost item from Butler's recent pasteboards cache did not work as expected.
  • Fixed a bug that made Butler display each Inspector category twice under certain conditions.
  • Since version 4.0b26, Butler displays the contents of "Custom Pasteboard" Smart Items in menus. You can now switch this off and make Butler display the Smart Items' names only in the "Pasteboard" preferences.
  • Butler no longer lists iTunes playlist folders as empty playlists. (Unfortunately, Butler is not capable of displaying the playlist folders structure as of now. Nesting "iTunes: Library" Smart Items in containers is currently the only way of rebuilding this structure.)
  • You can now have Butler's main window look like the latest iTunes by choosing the "Dark Gray" texture in Butler's "Visuals" preferences.
  • Available languages: English only -- please refer to the "Localizations" section of the user guide!

Operating System Requirements:

This product is designed to run on the following operating systems:

  • Mac OS X 10.4 PPC
  • Mac OS X 10.3.9
  • Mac OS X 10.3
  • Mac OS X 10.2

Additional Requirements:

  • Mac OS X 10.2.8 or higher (Mac OS X 10.4 strongly recommended)

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Feedback Summary:

Version 4.0b27:
Overall Rating: (5.0) Features: (5.0) Support: (4.0)
Ease of Use: (4.5) Quality / Stability: (5.0) Price: (5.0)
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Butler ReviewSeems to work OK with Snow Leopard... - Version: 4.1.6, 10/20/2009 04:46PM PST

dsorel
As fart as I can tell, Butler works fine with the new OS.
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Butler ReviewExcellent little tool - Version: 4.1.6, 7/19/2008 01:50AM PST

pkiula
Does what it says, very handily.
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Butler ReviewIndispensable - Version: 4.1.5 Transient, 3/24/2008 03:34PM PST

(4 of 4 users found this comment useful)

jonathanmitchell_dotmac
Wonderful range of features- excellent clipboard, Google in the menubar, better Spotlight searcher, all the features of FruitMenu or the old OS9 Apple menu, immediate access to email addresses, etc. Very easy to customize- all changes show up immediately.
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