One of the things I actually miss about Windows is how I can put a whole bunch of links to apps in the Quick Launch bar. I guess the Dock works something like that, but it’s not quite the same. I’m sure there are a number of ways to be able to do things like this, but for now, I’ve landed on an app called QuickSilver. What it does is allow me to hit an activation key combo and it brings up a dialog box that lets me enter a search term. On the fly it brings up any number of results, and if I’m even close it’s the app I want to launch. For instance, if I wanted to bring up Firefox, I just start typing “f”, “i”, “r”, etc. and it finds it for me. Since I don’t have many apps installed yet, it usually finds it within the first few keystrokes. Pretty amazing, and for now, indispensible for me.
As you can imagine, QuickSilver is one of those apps I want around anytime. Unfortunately, when I shut down and restart the Mac, it’s not loaded. Well, System Preferences to the rescue there! I just go bring up the Accounts preference pane and select the Login items tab. There I can add whatever I want started up at login. I think there are keystrokes that allow you to do the same thing while an app is running, but this is just easier for me to remember until my fingers are fully “mac-ified.”
UPDATE: I found what I was reading before. If the app is running, you just hold down the left mouse button on the app in the Dock and it brings up a menu where one of the items is to start the app at login. You can read the tip here.
