Quicksilver — Act without doing

One of my favorite programs for OS X is Quicksilver.  Quicksilver is the first program I install on any Mac I buy, and I feel helpless when I use a Mac it's not installed on; that's how ingrained Quicksilver can become into your workflow.  It's a simple little program that is extremely powerful once you dig into it.  Let's take a look.


There are many uses for Quicksilver, but lots of people use it simply as an application launcher, which is mainly how I use it.  It's simple to set up, and easy to use.


Once it's installed on your system, you need to decide how you want to use it.  Basically, you hit "trigger" keys, and Quicksilver springs forward, waiting for your next command.  It's always running in the background, and uses very few resources.   Here's what the interface looks like:

The Quicksilver basic interface.

Once invoked, Quicksilver waits for you to type what you are looking for.  If you want to launch Chrome for example, you would simply type "chrome."  I'll bet Quicksilver won't let you get that far though.  Quicksilver is smart enough to try to guess what it is you're looking for, and will present that guess in the window as you type.  Hit the Return key to launch the program that is shown in the Quicksilver interface.  


But what if it guesses wrong?  No worries.  Type what you are looking for, and if Quicksilver doesn't guess what you are looking for correctly, simply wait.  After a few seconds, a menu will appear below the basic interface listing everything that it could find that matches the letters you typed.  

Quicksilver tries to find all everything that matches your search term.  In this example, I typed "snap," as seen in the title bar of the white window, as well as underlined in the name in the grey box.  Quicksilver updates in real-time.

By default, the Quicksilver trigger keys are Option and Spacebar.  You can change these keys to anything you want in Quicksilver's preferences.


Notice how in the above example, Snapz Pro X is highlighted in Quicksilver, and to the right it says "Open"?  This is a visual representation of what Quicksilver is going to do for you.  But what if you want to get to that box on the right?  Can Quicksilver do anything besides launch applications?  Absolutely!


To get to the other box in the Quicksilver interface, type what you are looking for (the program or document to be acted upon) and once it's been found, hit the Tab key.  Now press any arrow key.  Huzzah!  All new options that you can do to the file or program in the first tab!

Quicksilver is no one-trick pony.

From the second tab, you can do things like reveal the program (or document) in the Finder, move it, copy it, paste it and more!  All that without having to stop what you are doing, go to the Finder, double-click through folder after folder to get to what you are looking for.  Quicksilver is always on, and always available from any program.  Hit the trigger keys, and Quicksilver is ready to go.


There's plenty more Quicksilver can do; so much that you could almost write a book about it.  Explore the program, and you will most likely find a way to make it work for you.


Direct link to Quicksilver download here.

The Application Switcher — Move between applications in a keypress

People who watch me use my computer are sometimes amazed at how quickly I can get around the system.  When switching between applications, I can get to where I need to be in a hurry.  How do I do this?  I use the keyboard.


Today I'm going to explain some of the more overlooked ways of moving around the system, as well as introduce you to the first piece of software I install on my computer, Quicksilver.  


First things first, let's take a look at switching between applications.  Of course you can use Mission Control, but that involves having to take your hand off of the keyboard (unless you've set it up to be activated by a key-command).  I prefer using Command-Tab.  Simply press the Command and Tab keys, and you will see the Application Switcher pop up on your screen (make sure to continue to hold down the Command key to keep it on your screen).


You can use the mouse to select the application you'd like to switch to, but that kind of defeats the purpose.  After all, you don't want to take your fingers off of the keyboard if you don't have to.  Instead, hit Tab again, and the selected icon will move to the right.  Continue hitting Tab to cycle to the right.  If you want to go left, while still holding down Command, either hit Shift-Tab, or hit the Tilde key, which is above the Tab key.  You can also use the arrow keys to cycle right or left.


As soon as you let go of both the Command key, you will be switched to whatever application is currently highlighted.  There are tons of ways this is useful, and once you get used to using the Application Switcher, you'll wonder how you lived without it.


But wait!  There's other stuff the Application Switcher can do!  Hit Command-Tab to bring up the Application Switcher window, select a program with open, visible windows, and while continually holding down Command, hit the H key.  All of the windows of that program vanish.  But fear not, they're not gone, they are just hiding, as hitting the H key while a program is selected in the Application Switcher hides all of its windows.  If you want to see the windows again, simply switch to that program.  This can be useful if you have a ton of windows open, and you want to focus on just one application, without having to minimize all of that programs open windows.


You can even quit programs from the Application Switcher by selecting a program and (again, while continuing to hold down the Command key) hitting Q.  Careful with this, as even though OS X will ask you to save any unsaved work, web browsers will close without a second thought, taking any and all open tabs with it.  


And there's one more trick you should know about, and this one allows you to switch directly to windows within a program.  Once you open the Application Switcher and cycle to the program you want to use, hit either the Up or Down arrow keys to see all of the open windows for that program.  The downside is that you have to use your mouse to select which window you want to use, but if you know what you are looking for, this can be a huge timesaver.  


And there you have it.  Move between applications using nothing but your keyboard, so you don't have to go fumbling around with your mouse.  Simple and elegant.