I have been around the internet block one too many times and I have found a whole bunch of interesting programs out there. Some that work and some that don’t. This tiny but powerful program is one of the best and I use it every day.

Launchy is a small program that allows you to start any program by typing in the name. No more searching for the right file in your vast array of start menu options. This tiny program starts up with a customizable key stroke and is small and unobtrusive. Let’s take a look!

Launchy is interesting because there are no other programs, that I have found, like it. It allows you to launch any program by just typing the name in to its box. Not only that but Lanuchy allows you to navigate through your files, search Google, and launch your bookmarks. Launchy is a free and open source program and you can find the website with more tips and tricks at www.launchy.net. If you just want to download it go to: http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=132975&package_id=146049. The latest version(at the time this article was posted) of Launchy is v1.25. Now Launchy only works with Windows XP, the creators say you can mod the source to make it work with Win 2000 but I’m not going to do that here. If you want me to do an article on it I will consider it, just leave a reply.

The Launchy installer is your basic wizard with no real issues. Just double click the .exe file and follow the instructions

The basic skin of Launchy is very simple. Your hot key buttons are automatically set to Alt and Space bar. Hit those two keys together and Launchy pops up in the middle of your screen. Now all you have to do is start to type a program name. I started to type “Internet e” and Launchy automatically figured I wanted Internet Explorer. At this point all I have to do is hit Enter and it will start Internet Explorer. Now just in case I didn’t want Internet Explorer, Launchy gave me some different options to choose from. All I have to do is scroll down and choose the program I want.

Launchy can also help you navigate through your files. If you have ever used Linux before you know how easy it is to navigate through the files in the command prompt. Launchy is very similar to that process. All I do is start to type “c” and hit tab and it shows the folders in the “c:/” drive. From there all I have to do is start typing the name of the next folder and hit tab. Once I get to the folder I want I just hit enter. Really simple!

Launchy has a cool build in feature called Calcy. It is a basic calculator so when you need to know what 3 + 3 is you just type it in to Launchy and it will provide an answer for you. Or you could just type in “calculator” and pull up the windows calculator.

Yet another cool feature of Launchy is the Google search feature. It’s really easy, type in Google then hit tab. Launchy will insert a spacer and they you can type what you want to search for. Then just hit enter, and Launchy will open your default browser and search Google for whatever you typed in. Yet another awesome feature is that Launchy also searches sites such as yahoo, Wikipedia, MSN and others. Just use the same process as searching Google.

One last feature of Launchy I would like to highlight is its ability to check the weather. Launchy can check the weather in much the same way it searches Google or Yahoo. Just type in Weather then hit tab. Notice the break Launchy has inserted. Then type your zip code or city, state then hit enter. Launchy will open up the weather forecast from weather.com.

All in all Launchy has an awesome set of features that allow you to work more efficiently each day. Launchy has a bunch of different plug-in’s available, if you find one that works well post it here!