But after a few days I trashed it.

My menubar is already a great clusterfu[k with weather, internet bandwidth graph, connection status and time, displays, sound, and date/time. HimmelBar just doesn't fit up there very elegantly, at least not with my 19" CRT display.

Here's another free solution to launching apps (actually two):

1. Drop your applications folder in the dock. This works, but you get a humongous list that's not easy to navigate and takes a moment to open.

2. Drop applications sub-folders in the dock. This requires you to organize your apps in to categories, like "graphics," "audio," "video," etc. Some apps, mostly Apple apps, don't like being moved into sub-folders, and so when you install an OS X update, you end up with new versions of the apps in the Applications folder, and the old ones are still in the sub-folders.

3. Create a folder or folders of aliases to your apps. Put whatever you want in the folders, and add as many sub-directories as you need. Slap some custom icons on the folder(s) and drop them in your dock. This method produces the best results, but it's the most time consuming. I'd really like to see Apple add a preference pane that would organize such folder menus for the dock.

Besides giving fast access to any file on the system, the great advantage to dock folders is that they're right next to all the running apps in your dock. It's far better organization than to split access to your apps by having some in the dock, and menu way up in the menubar.

Anyways my review is entirely subjective. For anyone who would like to access their apps from their menubar, HimmelBar is an excellent solution, and best of all, it's free. It's wonderful to see such a vibrant community of OS X GUI "tweakers" here at VT, and it only adds to OS X's usability.