Start menu replacement

January 30, 2006 8:21 PM

Has anyone seen a non-Konfabulator Windows Start Menu replacement that allows the user to enter the names of programs to run?

I believe that there is a Konfab widget that uses "narrowing strings" to seek out and quickly run any program found under StartMenu. (For Acrobat, enter A-C and it will pop up.) This is a brilliant idea, one which would avoid a lot of mouse clicks as I drill down into the Start Menu, but I do not want to deal with Konfab issues. Has anyone written such a thing as a small program rather than a widget?

posted by yclipse to Technology (13 answers total)

http://colibri.leetspeak.org/

Same thing. Install it, press ctrl-space, type away. It's a new program and it seems a little buggy but wow, I am really loving this!
posted by reishus at 8:29 PM on January 30, 2006

I use Google Desktop for this, since it indexes the start menu. Just keep it running in floating deskbar mode. To start Acrobat, all I have to do is type 'a', down arrow twice and hit return. Works for me.
posted by matthewr at 8:36 PM on January 30, 2006

you can also try App Rocket. Unlike colibri it's not that buggy and it also searches metadata (like Launchbar/Quicksilver on the mac) aaand it costs money.
posted by sammich at 8:48 PM on January 30, 2006

I've used AppRocket to do this.
posted by blag at 8:49 PM on January 30, 2006

Even in its alpha state, Colibri is the closest thing to Quicksilver/LaunchBar I've found on Windows. AppRocket never felt right to me.
posted by Armitage Shanks at 9:17 PM on January 30, 2006

You'll be happy to know that Windows Vista will be including this functionality via an advanced search bar that's smart enough to sort apps 'n such, right in the start menu.
posted by disillusioned at 9:45 PM on January 30, 2006

Um, but, in the mean time, thanks for the colibri suggestion... I'm already using and loving it. Fantastico.
posted by disillusioned at 2:52 AM on January 31, 2006

What is the widget in Konfab? I've only found "Launcha" using a few keywords from your description. I'd like to make sure I can check out the specific widget you are discussing.
posted by oddman at 6:18 AM on January 31, 2006

Best answer: Colibri wouldn't work for me on win2k. So far, despite the goofy name, find and run robot works best for me.
posted by 31d1 at 6:27 AM on January 31, 2006

SlickRun

I tried Colibri, but found that it didn't quite do everything i wanted. SlickRun is way more customizable and has a much better support base via user forums.
posted by TheAnswer at 6:44 AM on January 31, 2006

Colibri seems closer to Quicksilver than AppRocket (which I've been using for a while), but it doesn't index as much of my system as AppRocket (e.g., tiny apps hidden in folders on my desktop show up in AppRocket but not Colibri)-- is there any way to tune what it looks at (I realize the thing is really new).
posted by yerfatma at 7:48 AM on January 31, 2006

I use what is described in this blog entry. No additional software necessary.
posted by bwilms at 11:32 AM on January 31, 2006

AppRocket is a pig. Find and Run Robot is the bomb, though-I use it like a reflex now and if it's not installed on a computer, I feel bereft.
posted by evariste at 2:04 PM on January 31, 2006