SonOfSylvanus
2005-01-09, 14:43
A few days ago I downloaded Quicksilver (http://quicksilver.blacktree.com/). I could be hyperbolic here, but instead I'm just going to say that it's very, very good and suggest that you download it and try it... Nach, I can't help it- IT'S FRICKING AWESOME OMG!!1! GET IT NOW OR YOU WILL EXPLODE, EXPLODE, EXPLOOOOODE I TELL YOU!!11 OMG11!!
:p
http://www.sonofsylvanus.homechoice.co.uk/images/spotlight_pre-visited.jpg
Quicksilver is an application launcher that can be used in unison with the Dock or can be used in place of it if you wish. More than this, however, Quicksilver can be used to access webpages, send email, define words (http://forums.applenova.com/showthread.php?postid=152018#post152018), do sums, search folders, play songs in iTunes, put the computer to sleep, fast user switch and many other things. If I understand correctly, it does this by creating an index of the important folders on your drive (you can specify these in Preferences) and working from there.
All this is achieved by typing in what you want, or an abbreviation of what you want, in an input field. For example, I can send an e-mail to my best friend Dave even if I don't remember his e-mail address and if I don't have Address book or Mail open by doing the following. Type:
"adcon [right arrow]" (to show Address Book Contacts)
"da [right arrow]" (to show entries for Dave)
"hoem [right arrow]" (for Dave's Home Email address)
"[tab]" (to perform an action with Dave's Home Email address)
"em [return]" (to Email Dave at his Home address)
This whole process might take around 5 seconds. It's so quick when you get used to it, and there is no need to make the abbreviations the same each time. In this example I have avoided opening the Address Book Application, as well as several mouse clicks and movements. Wowee :rolleyes: I hear you cry, but try it, its just MUCH faster. I shunned all third-party application launchers (er... why don't you just click the frickin' icon???!) until I tried one. Now I think they're awesome. (Can you tell?)
:D
Now I only use the dock to store folders and minimised window—the left-hand-side only holds open apps since I can access all apps more quickly using Quicksilver.
But putting aside my fanboyism, what I am most excited about is what Tiger's Spotlight technology will herald...
> Will spotlight make or break apps like Quicksilver, LaunchBar and Butler that rely on indexing and meta-data, or will it provide a magnificently responsive and comprehensive live indexing system (this is where Quicksilver falls down) that could give users access to every function of their computer with a few well chosen keyboard inputs? Is Spotlight even a technology that third-party developers can build on, or is it closed and protected by Apple? Will Spotlight offer the features that Quicksilver now does, or would you not want it to?
>As a final throwing-it-out-there-in-the-hope-of-some-intelligent-discussion-this-close-to-MWSF thing (breathe), do you think we are moving full circle as regards human-computer interface—from text input to GUI and back to text input? Although successive versions of Mac OSX as well as Windows have added more and more eye candy, isn't the current focus (by Apple, MS, Google and others) on web/desktop searching leading to a greater dependence on words and descriptions rather than spatial orientation within the whole desktop metaphor?
:)
:p
http://www.sonofsylvanus.homechoice.co.uk/images/spotlight_pre-visited.jpg
Quicksilver is an application launcher that can be used in unison with the Dock or can be used in place of it if you wish. More than this, however, Quicksilver can be used to access webpages, send email, define words (http://forums.applenova.com/showthread.php?postid=152018#post152018), do sums, search folders, play songs in iTunes, put the computer to sleep, fast user switch and many other things. If I understand correctly, it does this by creating an index of the important folders on your drive (you can specify these in Preferences) and working from there.
All this is achieved by typing in what you want, or an abbreviation of what you want, in an input field. For example, I can send an e-mail to my best friend Dave even if I don't remember his e-mail address and if I don't have Address book or Mail open by doing the following. Type:
"adcon [right arrow]" (to show Address Book Contacts)
"da [right arrow]" (to show entries for Dave)
"hoem [right arrow]" (for Dave's Home Email address)
"[tab]" (to perform an action with Dave's Home Email address)
"em [return]" (to Email Dave at his Home address)
This whole process might take around 5 seconds. It's so quick when you get used to it, and there is no need to make the abbreviations the same each time. In this example I have avoided opening the Address Book Application, as well as several mouse clicks and movements. Wowee :rolleyes: I hear you cry, but try it, its just MUCH faster. I shunned all third-party application launchers (er... why don't you just click the frickin' icon???!) until I tried one. Now I think they're awesome. (Can you tell?)
:D
Now I only use the dock to store folders and minimised window—the left-hand-side only holds open apps since I can access all apps more quickly using Quicksilver.
But putting aside my fanboyism, what I am most excited about is what Tiger's Spotlight technology will herald...
> Will spotlight make or break apps like Quicksilver, LaunchBar and Butler that rely on indexing and meta-data, or will it provide a magnificently responsive and comprehensive live indexing system (this is where Quicksilver falls down) that could give users access to every function of their computer with a few well chosen keyboard inputs? Is Spotlight even a technology that third-party developers can build on, or is it closed and protected by Apple? Will Spotlight offer the features that Quicksilver now does, or would you not want it to?
>As a final throwing-it-out-there-in-the-hope-of-some-intelligent-discussion-this-close-to-MWSF thing (breathe), do you think we are moving full circle as regards human-computer interface—from text input to GUI and back to text input? Although successive versions of Mac OSX as well as Windows have added more and more eye candy, isn't the current focus (by Apple, MS, Google and others) on web/desktop searching leading to a greater dependence on words and descriptions rather than spatial orientation within the whole desktop metaphor?
:)