About Quicksilver

Launch that thing

Want to start the Mail application? Just type “mail” and hit return. Too much typing? Just type “m” and select Mail from the list of results. Quicksilver learns what you mean by certain abbreviations as you use them. Do this a couple of times and Mail will become the top result.

This isn’t limited to applications. It applies to anything in Quicksilver’s catalog.

Launching is a gateway drug

Saying that Quicksilver is an application launcher is like saying a car is a drink holder. You can do almost anything with Quicksilver. A list of specific features would probably make you say “So what? I can do all of that now.” You can, but it takes work. Quicksilver blurs the line between thinking about something and simply having it done.

Find it fast

Quicksilver gives you quick access to the stuff that’s important to you. With only a few keystrokes, you can get to your applications, files, contacts, bookmarks, music, etc. But don’t get distracted. Quicksilver is about doing, not finding. Finding things is simply a necessary prerequisite (that it happens to handle extremely well).

Type it like you think it

Using something like Spotlight to find an Address Book entry for John Smith would require you to search for part of the name, like “john”. What if you want to find it just by typing “js”? Quicksilver lets you abbreviate using letters from anywhere in the name. And that means anywhere, not just the beginning of words. Use “ps” to find Photoshop or “tun” to find iTunes. Use abbreviations that make sense to you.

Stay where you are

There’s no need to stop what you’re doing and switch applications for simple tasks. Move the file you just downloaded to your Documents folder without ever leaving your web browser. Paste a URL into an e-mail message without switching to your web browser and without copying and pasting. Add something to your To Do List as soon as you think of it and get right back to what you’re doing.

Grab and go

Select files or text and do something with them immediately. Quicksilver can grab the current selection from almost any application. Use text to search the web or append it to a file. Grab files and delete them, move them or send them.

Do it backwards

Many actions are reversible. You can select a search engine then enter some text to find. But if you already have the text selected (or copied to the clipboard), you can do the reverse: grab the text then select a search engine to send it to.

You can select a contact and e-mail them a file, or you can select a file and e-mail it to a contact. No thinking. No planning. No adjusting. Just doing.

Keep Finder at arm’s length

Quicksilver allows you to do all sorts of things with files, including moving, copying, renaming and deleting. It also allows you to navigate your entire file system (including hidden files) whether the files are in its catalog or not. Just add a few important top-level folders to the catalog and you can drill down from there as needed.

Still not fast enough?

If you find yourself doing something frequently, you can speed up the task even more by assigning a “trigger” to it. Triggers can be activated by keyboard shortcuts or mouse movements.

Do more

There are many plug-ins that extend the functionality even further. Change the interface appearance. Access information from web-based services. Access your browser’s bookmarks and history.

What about Spotlight?

Spotlight is fantastic and it certainly has its place, but it’s no substitute for Quicksilver.

• Spotlight knows about everything. Quicksilver concentrates on just the things you care about.
• Spotlight is about finding things. Quicksilver is about finding things (faster) and then doing something with what you’ve found.
• Spotlight only deals with files. Quicksilver gives you access to things that don’t necessarily exist as a file. Spotlight can show your dad’s entry in the Address Book. Quicksilver can show your dad’s work phone number.
• Spotlight forces you to think when you search. Quicksilver allows you to just start typing and get what you want. Maybe not the first time you type it, but the third or fourth time for sure.