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

LaunchBar - 3.3 beta 1

open apps, urls, email...by typing abbreviations

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All Time:	(4.8)
Version 3.3 beta 1:	(4.8)
Selected Version:	3.3 beta 1
Release Date:	2003-11-13
License:	Beta
Downloads (version 3.3 beta 1):	9,948
Downloads (all versions):	8,139
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:

Phone Number Support: A new Scan Type "Email Addresses & Phone Numbers" has been added. Opening a phone number item in LaunchBar displays the corresponding number in large type.
The new "Show in Address Book" command selects the corresponding Address Book entry for a given email addresses or phone number simply by pressing Command-Return.
Improved Address Book Scanner: Entries with empty First Name / Last Name fields are now handled properly. The "Company", "Job Title" or "Email" fields will be used instead to establish a proper name. Further, the "Nickname" field is now considered, allowing to search search for a person by its nickname.
Moving the LaunchBar window no longer requires the Command key to be pressed.
Dragging an item from the LaunchBar window no longer requires the Option key to be pressed. However, you have to start the drag from within the selected item's icon and the mouse button has to be pressed for at least 0.25 seconds to prevent accidental drags. Starting the drag from any other location within the bar is still possible by holding down the Option key.
LaunchBar now supports Emacs key bindings. In addition to the arrow keys, the search result popup list can now be navigated with Control-p/n/b/f/a/e.
LaunchBar now hides itself after a successful drag operation.
New Preference Option "Quit LaunchBar with Command-Option-Q" to prevent accidental quitting of LaunchBar.
Changing the Hotkey preferences no longer requires LaunchBar to be restarted.
When you start browsing into a folder using the Arrow Right key, the initial search result that delivered this folder is preserved. You can restore this search result by browsing backwards with the Arrow Left key.
The "Open Configuration" menu shortcut has been changed from Command-O to Command-Y. Command-O now opens the selected item. The "Reveal in Configuration" shortcut has been changed to Command-Option-Y respectively.
The menu bar icon is now turned off by default.
The Info.plist setting for running LaunchBar as a background application has been changed from NSUIElement to LSUIElement. See the LaunchBar Help, chapter "Tips & Tricks" to learn more about this topic.
Fixed an issue where "Show in Finder" didn't work when the corresponding file or folder was not readable.
Fixed an issue where symbolic links pointing to itself caused the Setup Scan to hang in Mac OS X 10.3 Panther.
The small 3 pixel overlap of the LaunchBar window when running on a dual display configuration has been fixed.

Operating System Requirements:

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

Mac OS X 10.3
Mac OS X 10.2
Mac OS X 10.1

Additional Requirements:

Mac OS X 10.1 or higher

Feedback Summary:

Version 3.3 beta 1:
Overall Rating:	(4.8)	Features:	(4.7)	Support:	(4.6)
Ease of Use:	(4.6)	Quality / Stability:	(4.9)	Price:	(4.1)

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.