Mac OS X | System / Utilities | Tweaks / Enhancements | LaunchBar

LaunchBar - 4.0

open apps, files, URLs... via abbreviation

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All Time:	(4.8)
Version 4.0:	(4.9)
Selected Version:	4.0
Release Date:	2005-02-15
License:	Commercial
Downloads (version 4.0):	2,981
Downloads (all versions):	8,082
Price:	$19.95

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Product Description:

LaunchBar is a productivity utility that offers an amazingly intuitive and efficient way to control your computer. It provides instant access to thousands of documents, folders, bookmarks, email addresses and phone numbers, applications and preference panes just by entering short abbreviations of the searched item's name.

You just hit Command-Space to bring LaunchBar's input window to front, enter an arbitrary abbreviation, and as soon as you start typing LaunchBar displays the best matching choices, ready to be opened immediately.

Start applications, open documents, invoke system services, compose emails or navigate the web - LaunchBar will be your essential servant.

What's new in this version:

Improved phone number support: A new preference setting allows to specify an AppleScript responsible for opening phone numbers. This script may e.g. dial the phone number via third party applications such as Jon's Phone Tool or Skype.
Unix Executables and Shell Scripts can now be executed in background (without opening a Terminal window) by pressing Shift-Return.
"Open with…" (initiated by pressing the Tab key) now displays suitable apps for the selected item.
"Open with" now also works with AppleScripts and Unix Executables (press the Shift key to run the script or executable in background)
Files and URLs can be now dragged onto AppleScripts and Unix Executables.
Added support for Firefox Bookmarks.
Bookmark Folders can now be opened (similar to Safari's "Open in Tabs"). Opens all contained bookmarks at once, shows a warning dialog if the folder contains more than 8 bookmarks.
HTML files are now opened in a new tab in Safari if Tabbed Browsing is enabled
Improved iTunes playback: Play Artist, Play Composer, Play Genre (same as Play Album)
Search by email address or phone number. E.g. when you sub-search the "Phone Numbers" smart group, you can reverse-lookup a person by entering parts of its phone number.
The display of postal addresses now also works on Mac OS X 10.2
Optimized file scanning (more than twice as fast)
Improved abbreviation search performance (about 10% faster)
The configuration window's sidebar is now titled "Indexing Rules" and provides a pop-up menu for adding new rules.
The Space key no longer resets abbreviation input (unless it initiates a sub-search)
During sub-search, the dot character can be used for abbreviation input (instead of switching to URL input)
When invoking the list of running apps with Command-R (Show Running Applications), a particular application from that list can now be selected via sub-search.
Pressing Control-Right Arrow pops up the context menu.
A couple of new search templates have been added to the factory configuration (iTunes Music Store, Amazon, Search MSN)
The inactive LaunchBar window is no longer displayed semi-transparent but opaque with dimmed contents.
The Address Book is now scanned for all types of instant messaging screen names (AIM, ICQ, Jabber, MSN, Yahoo). They are opened with the default helper application for the "icq", "jabber", "msn" or "yahoo" URL schemes (e.g. Proteus supports these schemes).
Attempting to open a file that no longer exists at the given file path (e.g. due to an outdated index) now raises an alert panel, allowing you to rescan the corresponding indexing rule.
Using the "Search Index" field in the configuration window's toolbar now automatically selects the Index pane if it was not yet selected.
Invoking Exposé / Show Desktop while LaunchBar is active no longer causes the bar to appear offset downwards.
The "Hide other applications" preference option no longer inverts the behavior of the "Run AppleScripts" option.
Fixed a crash related to application scanning.
Slash characters in filenames are now properly displayed.
Switching Network Locations now also works properly with location names containing special characters like 'bullet'. Note: As a consequence of this bug fix, previous abbreviation bindings for network locations are lost, they have to be re-trained.
Improved iTunes browsing: Albums, Composers, etc. are now sorted alphabetically.
Search templates without a hostname are now displayed properly (e.g. man:*)
Workaround for a crashing bug in Apple's AddressBook.framework.
Fixed a crash when performing "Revert to Saved" after deleting an indexing rule.
International characters in Firefox and Mozilla bookmarks are now correctly scanned.
Opening photo albums in iPhoto now also works with Japanese album names.
"Open Terminal Here…" no longer opens two windows when Terminal was not yet running.

Operating System Requirements:

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

Mac OS X 10.3
Mac OS X 10.2

Additional Requirements:

Mac OS X 10.2 or higher

Feedback Summary:

Version 4.0:
Overall Rating:	(4.9)	Features:	(4.8)	Support:	(4.8)
Ease of Use:	(5.0)	Quality / Stability:	(4.9)	Price:	(4.8)

Key to Types of Feedback:

Reviews Reviews Troubleshooting Usage Tips Developer Notes Commentary Featured Reviews

Superb product. - Version: 5.0.2, 11/15/2009 11:56AM PST

igamogam

When I use other Macs I am lost without this software.

LaunchBar can do what other launchers do but the other stuff is just amazing. I haven't used spotlight directly in nearly two years (which is a blessing) and the ability to jump between locations, folders, programs and projects easily without having to think cannot be replicated easily using another launcher as far as I know.

Superb!

The MUST have util! - Version: 5.0rc3, 7/7/2009 12:07PM PST

(1 of 1 users found this comment useful)

vanrey

The most useful utility I know!

Works like a charm... - Version: 4.3.7, 6/12/2009 01:58PM PST

(2 of 2 users found this comment useful)

dsphelps

I've been using this for years now, and though I have stuck with ver. 4.3.7 because it seems to be faster on my G3, I can totally recommend it as a must-have. Spend some time going through the documentation and playing around with it and you will be amazed at what it can do: open apps and folders, bookmarks, control iTunes, look up in Google, Amazon, etc., all from a tiny bar. Have tried similar freeware but keep coming back to this. It helps to peer under the hood, though, to really discover all the uses.