Quicksilver a waste of time now?

[coocooforcocoap]

I just installed quicksilver in 10.4.10 and after all the hype i don't get it. Spotlight "lite" with keystrokes? I have some issues and questions, but I am wondering if in just a few days if it will be obsolete anyway. I was hoping however for a tool that would search my HD and reveal all my product registrations, just in case i needed for the upgrade to Leopard. I do have yojimbo installed as well, with QS plugin enabled, but it seems u have to enter them all into yojimbo first? Well, if any quicksilver users could comment that would be great!

 

[littlevish]

It takes some time to get used to these application launchers, but once you are used to them you won't know how you ever lived without them.

And I don't see how it will be a waste of time...it's different than spotlight.

 

[rogersmj]

The biggest mistake people make is thinking Quicksilver is Spotlight, or that it's just an app launcher. It's a lot more than either of those things. There's a lot of Quicksilver tutorials out there, I suggest you check them out. You can perform actions on multiple files at once, upload to an FTP server, attach and send files via email, and pretty much hook into every single service available through nearly every application you can get for OS X. I personally use QS for app launching, FTP uploads to my gallery server, iTunes keyboard shortcuts (play/pause and next/previous without having iTunes in the foreground), iTunes Growl notifications when the song changes, bookmark access, and a few more things. It normally would take a number of apps to do all this, but QuickSilver can take care of everything.

 

[powerbook911]

I love it. No easier way to launch applications.

 

[messedkid]

I've never tried in spotlight, but Quicksilver can also be used to launch URLs.

No need to open safari and then enter the url.


But I'm more of a mouse user, so I haven't used quicksilver in...about 4 months. I used a bluetooth might mouse since I got my mac last year, and now use my Razer Copperhead. It doesn't take up alot of space so I haven't been forced to delete it. Probably will when I install leopard, or do a fresh OS install and just not download it again.

 

[Ice-Cube]

Invoke quicksilver, type . (as in a dot), type a word, press tab, key in dict then enter. You learn a new word everyday.

Thats one of the many ways quicksilver has improved my efficiency.

 

[Ariez]

Im starting to get the hang of it.

 

[doitintheroad]

Honestly, use QS for a month and then try life without it. Macs definitely have some learning curves, especially for those coming from a PC frame of mind (like myself, oh not so long ago). But, like your Mac, once you've gotten the hang of Quicksilver, it will be as crucial as your Mac itself. I'm at a point where I accidentally closed down Quicksilver last week, and automatically hit my invoke keystoke to try to bring it back up again - to no avail! I had to sink so low as to use the mouse to find and open Quicksilver! Augh!

 

[zweigand]

Anyone know how much better spotlight application launching is in Leopard? If it is halfway decent I may drop Quicksilver ...but it has to be pretty darn good at it for me to do so.

 

[Veritas&Equitas]

Anyone know how much better spotlight application launching is in Leopard? If it is halfway decent I may drop Quicksilver ...but it has to be pretty darn good at it for me to do so.

Spotlight is still great, but I still have Quicksilver installed, and use it the same as I did with Tiger. You can't go without it, regardless of the OS

 

[frozentoast]

Life without Quicksilver would not be worth living.

 

[jackc]

I don't even think Launchbar will be obsolete, and it does a lot less than Quicksilver (but I like it).

 

[PupnTaco]

I love it. No easier way to launch applications.

What about something like this?

 

[Blubbert]

What about something like this?

I think Quicksilver is much simpler than that. Double tap command and then type in a few letters of an application, hit enter, done.
Or if you prefer using a mouse, you could create a mouse gesture that opened a constellation menu where you could select an application from.

 

[kugino]

QS is such a memory hog that i had to quit using it. i hate programs that i have to quit and restart on a regular basis...both safari and camino are problematic as well, but i need to use one of those browsers...

 

[Veritas&Equitas]

QS is such a memory hog that i had to quit using it. i hate programs that i have to quit and restart on a regular basis...both safari and camino are problematic as well, but i need to use one of those browsers...

I can honestly say that I've never had to restart QS in over 2 years of using it.

 

[quigleybc]

I can honestly say that I've never had to restart QS in over 2 years of using it.

ya, my QS gets funky sometimes and i have to Force quit...but normally it's great.

I always want to use it for more stuff than app launching but I never feel like sitting through a qs tutorial

 

[Cromulent]

I think Quicksilver is much simpler than that. Double tap command and then type in a few letters of an application, hit enter, done.
Or if you prefer using a mouse, you could create a mouse gesture that opened a constellation menu where you could select an application from.

You can do that with Spotlight in Tiger. + Space then type a few letters hit the down arrow and press return.

I have never understood the reasoning behind Quicksilver.

 

[Ice-Cube]

You can do that with Spotlight in Tiger. + Space then type a few letters hit the down arrow and press return.

I have never understood the reasoning behind Quicksilver.

Quicksilver is not just an application launcher. It combines actions and applications in one interface so you can get things done more efficiently. For example you can search for a contact in address book, open up his/her details and send a email, all from quicksilver. Sure you could use spotlight, but most prob you would stop at searching the contact part.

 

[seanneko]

Invoke quicksilver, type . (as in a dot), type a word, press tab, key in dict then enter. You learn a new word everyday.

Thats one of the many ways quicksilver has improved my efficiency.

Assuming that doing this opens the dictionary, you can do that with Spotlight in Leopard. Press Command+Space, type a word, and the dictionary entry should be just below the applications.

 

[powerbook911]

QS is such a memory hog that i had to quit using it. i hate programs that i have to quit and restart on a regular basis...both safari and camino are problematic as well, but i need to use one of those browsers...

I've never had to quit QS. Furthermore, I checked right now, and it is using 13 MB of memory out of 3 GB.

 

[coocooforcocoap]

wow, what a response. i was wondering specifically if leopards new finder (or something else in the os) made this obsolete somehow. but let's assume not. i am still plugging away at qs but can't get it to do the most basic things following some of the tuts out there. for example: Invoke, hit "ca" that is supposed to help me with controlling applications somehow, but it just brings up all apps that start with ca. another example, it does not seem to know about my mail database. I just want to go to an email i sent using apple mail. another example, Invoke, then hit Command-L. nothing happens. where is the clipboard viewer? the list is endless from the tuts i have tried. Hmmm....

 

[rogersmj]

I have never understood the reasoning behind Quicksilver.

Then you haven't read a damn thing in this thread. I'm not going to repeat myself.

 

[Cromulent]

Then you haven't read a damn thing in this thread. I'm not going to repeat myself.

Hahaha. Nice response.

I've read the whole of this thread and a fair few others on the subject.

I still don't understand the need particularly. There you go.

If you want a fast workflow use the terminal.

 

[jakdominance]

wow, what a response. i was wondering specifically if leopards new finder (or something else in the os) made this obsolete somehow. but let's assume not. i am still plugging away at qs but can't get it to do the most basic things following some of the tuts out there. for example: Invoke, hit "ca" that is supposed to help me with controlling applications somehow, but it just brings up all apps that start with ca. another example, it does not seem to know about my mail database. I just want to go to an email i sent using apple mail. another example, Invoke, then hit Command-L. nothing happens. where is the clipboard viewer? the list is endless from the tuts i have tried. Hmmm....

Personally, I use a mixture between the finder and QS. It depends on whether my hands are on the keyboard or not.
About the examples. I'm not sure what you're talking about in them, but wondering whether you need to install the plugins for them to work? Not sure which plugins, but maybe they are mentioned in the tutorial.