I used to LOVE Quicksilver. It was seriously the application that convinced me to never buy a non-Apple computer ever again. Unfortunately, I stopped using it a few weeks after installing Snow Leopard. I thought about using it again but with all of the things Apple has added to OSX, I don't think I really need it. I'm glad it is still kicking though.
Agree with ken ng. Alfred blows away every app of this genre in existence. Actually, Quicksilver is the least useful of the entire lot.
Oh...and to dreyfus2: if you can install Alfred and not find a use for it, you honestly haven't given it a decent try. I used to think this type of app was a waste of time, but the only time lost is the slightly steep learning curve. I use Alfred probably 30-50 times a day, and I'm only on my computer for a few hours. It's an unbelievable app, and SO MUCH MORE than a simple app launcher. In fact, that's the least of what it does.
Agree with ken ng. Alfred blows away every app of this genre in existence. Actually, Quicksilver is the least useful of the entire lot.
Oh...and to dreyfus2: if you can install Alfred and not find a use for it, you honestly haven't given it a decent try. I used to think this type of app was a waste of time, but the only time lost is the slightly steep learning curve. I use Alfred probably 30-50 times a day, and I'm only on my computer for a few hours. It's an unbelievable app, and SO MUCH MORE than a simple app launcher. In fact, that's the least of what it does.
I totally agree with you. Alfred has taken over the command+space keystroke. I hardly use spotlight anymore. As you said, it's more than just my app launcher. It's how I find files, how i quickly access specific folders, how i run frequently used shell commands, how I launch my top 5 apps using global shortcut keys and also how I execute apple scripts... and gosh the list is endless. And that's just ver 1.x and I've yet to (going to soon) upgrade to version 2.
Didn't even know about Alfred. Giving that a try right now but need to wait for the first index. I already like the CMD key shortcuts and visual prompts in Alfred. The configuration of QS definitely makes it even more obtuse than it needs to be.
Yeah, but it's open source & free. And while we are at it....... what contribution have you freeloading whiners made to society? Some code to improve it, or maybe A donation to the cause? I doubt it. Cry me a freakin' river. Compared to the guys writing this program, you have the I.Q. of a carrot.
This will be a little essay about Quicksilver, Computers history, Life (since I see that many users do not have a clue about Quicksilver, same is with blogers, "tech" writers...)
Quicksilver is single best thing EVER on ANY computer platform. It is NOT a Application Launcher it is a true augmented way to interact with computers. It is step beyond PUI (Parc User Interface (= Windows / Mac OS X)).
little bit of history: Douglas Engelbart once envision using computers with "mouse" and "five keys keyboard" for ultra fast typing. Engineers at Xerox disregarded "five keys keyboard" and gave us only MOUSE and PAPER.
While DOS looks really akward to me*, to type something like "COPY C:/TEXT/MYFILPR.TXT C:/TEXT/NEW/" instead of draging icons..., but using kaybords have it's own benefits!
What Quicksilver do for Mac is to enable doing varoius, varoius, varoius, varoius(!) stuff on computer WITH KEYBOARD only (eliminating using mouse where there is no need for it and speeding many tasks up to 10 times)!
and unfortunatly there is no single tutorial for everything that Quicksilver can do
but best thing is that you can use Quicksilver on very different ways and it will be always much faster than using "traditional" way!
* (I am long time Atari ST user; and Mac since I use Mac emulator (aka VirtualMachine) back in 1986. on ST )
Beside, this footnotes are another very primitive way since we STILL do not have REAL electronic paper after almost 40 years of personal computers: what we have is SIMULATION of paper (which Xerox Parc "invented" for us).
I used to use QuickSilver a lot, especially to pull up a contact & then display their number in huge text. These days I rarely use it for that because our work place moved to a Cisco phone system with Jabber but I still find it a lot faster for opening Apps or grabbing a file to e-mail. There is one nice use for it, with the right script you can use it to quickly rm a file so you don't have to then go & empty it from Trash. This is done through an Apple Script and though the occasion to use it is rare it is really really nice to have it when I need it.
As for being beta for 10 years, it was an open source hobby project so people knocking on it for that can get off. Google had Gmail in beta for how many years?!
You should! It's everything QS should have been. Alfred is free on the Mac App Store but the more advanced features are available via the Powerpack (http://www.alfredapp.com/powerpack/)
After all these comments about Alfred I had to give it a try... yeah it's neat.
Slicker than Quicksilver, easier to jump into than Quicksilver, more streamlined in general than Quicksilver.
It is however, no Quicksilver.
For the average or slightly more savvy than average user it is clearly a godsend, but it has nowhere near the depth of potential uses that QS does.
This is not to belittle it (Alfred)at all; in fact for what I do lately, it is perfect, but QS's multi-app and deep service functionality make it the real gem for a true power user.
That being said; the fine tuning process is well, not to put to fine a point on it, a pain in the ass. It takes a bit to get all the potential milked out of it, mainly because of the historic lack of concise documentation.
There is nothing Alfred can do that quicksilver can not, provided you know how to talk with it, but plenty vice versa.
Frankly, either serve as healthy example of why MS can suck it.
Comments
I used to LOVE Quicksilver. It was seriously the application that convinced me to never buy a non-Apple computer ever again. Unfortunately, I stopped using it a few weeks after installing Snow Leopard. I thought about using it again but with all of the things Apple has added to OSX, I don't think I really need it. I'm glad it is still kicking though.
Oh...and to dreyfus2: if you can install Alfred and not find a use for it, you honestly haven't given it a decent try. I used to think this type of app was a waste of time, but the only time lost is the slightly steep learning curve. I use Alfred probably 30-50 times a day, and I'm only on my computer for a few hours. It's an unbelievable app, and SO MUCH MORE than a simple app launcher. In fact, that's the least of what it does.
Quote:
Originally Posted by larrymcj
Agree with ken ng. Alfred blows away every app of this genre in existence. Actually, Quicksilver is the least useful of the entire lot.
Oh...and to dreyfus2: if you can install Alfred and not find a use for it, you honestly haven't given it a decent try. I used to think this type of app was a waste of time, but the only time lost is the slightly steep learning curve. I use Alfred probably 30-50 times a day, and I'm only on my computer for a few hours. It's an unbelievable app, and SO MUCH MORE than a simple app launcher. In fact, that's the least of what it does.
I totally agree with you. Alfred has taken over the command+space keystroke. I hardly use spotlight anymore. As you said, it's more than just my app launcher. It's how I find files, how i quickly access specific folders, how i run frequently used shell commands, how I launch my top 5 apps using global shortcut keys and also how I execute apple scripts... and gosh the list is endless. And that's just ver 1.x and I've yet to (going to soon) upgrade to version 2.
yes, is it very useful app.
p.s. someone say 1.1 version will be released next week,but this isn't right
Didn't even know about Alfred. Giving that a try right now but need to wait for the first index. I already like the CMD key shortcuts and visual prompts in Alfred. The configuration of QS definitely makes it even more obtuse than it needs to be.
Originally Posted by graftonreed
Yeah, but it's open source & free.
So if it was paid you wouldn't have bothered with your irrelevant argument?
This will be a little essay about Quicksilver, Computers history, Life (since I see that many users do not have a clue about Quicksilver, same is with blogers, "tech" writers...)
Quicksilver is single best thing EVER on ANY computer platform. It is NOT a Application Launcher it is a true augmented way to interact with computers. It is step beyond PUI (Parc User Interface (= Windows / Mac OS X)).
little bit of history: Douglas Engelbart once envision using computers with "mouse" and "five keys keyboard" for ultra fast typing. Engineers at Xerox disregarded "five keys keyboard" and gave us only MOUSE and PAPER.
While DOS looks really akward to me*, to type something like "COPY C:/TEXT/MYFILPR.TXT C:/TEXT/NEW/" instead of draging icons..., but using kaybords have it's own benefits!
What Quicksilver do for Mac is to enable doing varoius, varoius, varoius, varoius(!) stuff on computer WITH KEYBOARD only (eliminating using mouse where there is no need for it and speeding many tasks up to 10 times)!
this is a short, but effective demonstration og Quicksilver: http://media.theappleblog.com/screencasts/QS-screencast-pics.mov
and unfortunatly there is no single tutorial for everything that Quicksilver can do
but best thing is that you can use Quicksilver on very different ways and it will be always much faster than using "traditional" way!
* (I am long time Atari ST user; and Mac since I use Mac emulator (aka VirtualMachine) back in 1986. on ST
Beside, this footnotes are another very primitive way since we STILL do not have REAL electronic paper after almost 40 years of personal computers: what we have is SIMULATION of paper (which Xerox Parc "invented" for us).
btw I will try Alfred, I am curious
As for being beta for 10 years, it was an open source hobby project so people knocking on it for that can get off. Google had Gmail in beta for how many years?!
Quote:
Originally Posted by kovacm
btw I will try Alfred, I am curious
You should! It's everything QS should have been. Alfred is free on the Mac App Store but the more advanced features are available via the Powerpack (http://www.alfredapp.com/powerpack/)
After all these comments about Alfred I had to give it a try... yeah it's neat.
Slicker than Quicksilver, easier to jump into than Quicksilver, more streamlined in general than Quicksilver.
It is however, no Quicksilver.
For the average or slightly more savvy than average user it is clearly a godsend, but it has nowhere near the depth of potential uses that QS does.
This is not to belittle it (Alfred)at all; in fact for what I do lately, it is perfect, but QS's multi-app and deep service functionality make it the real gem for a true power user.
That being said; the fine tuning process is well, not to put to fine a point on it, a pain in the ass. It takes a bit to get all the potential milked out of it, mainly because of the historic lack of concise documentation.
There is nothing Alfred can do that quicksilver can not, provided you know how to talk with it, but plenty vice versa.
Frankly, either serve as healthy example of why MS can suck it.