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pjrobertson

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 14, 2007
533
4
So yeah, it's been a long time coming, but there's finally an update for Quicksilver!

You can download it from

http://qsapp.com/ (a brand new website for Quicksilver)
or read about the changes in the Changelog

A group of developers have been working hard over the past few months to resurrect Quicksilver and bring it back to what it once was.

The new version contains lots of fixes, as well as new features such as a 'latest download' proxy object, a new menu bar icon and new localisations.

Enjoy! :)
 
I remember trying quicksilver once. It was too difficult for me. :C
I use Alfred now. Would the transition from Alfred to Quicksilver be a significant one? I mean, I recall them functioning about the same way.
 
I use Alfred now. Would the transition from Alfred to Quicksilver be a significant one? I mean, I recall them functioning about the same way.

The transition may be a bit tough to begin with, since Quicksilver has a steep learning curve. It still way, way more powerful than Alfred though. Hands down.

Highlights of Quicksilver:
Triggers
Proxy Objects
Plugins (lots and lots of plugins, for many applications)
Actions - not just open and close
Comma trick (do 'something' to multiple items at once)
3 Panes (Objects, Action, Argument)
 
oh awesome! I've been using alfred in the meantime (quicksilver just became too unstable) but I may have to switch back, i've been missing the object, action, argument functionality.
 
I've been using Alfred and actually bought the Power Pack from them even after being a fan of QS for a while. That said, I only ever used QS as a launcher and iTunes controller. Alfred, though, is so intuitive that I've been able to use it much more effectively than I could ever use QS.
 
I've been using Alfred and actually bought the Power Pack from them even after being a fan of QS for a while. That said, I only ever used QS as a launcher and iTunes controller. Alfred, though, is so intuitive that I've been able to use it much more effectively than I could ever use QS.

Just wondering if you could expand on that a bit :)

I'm been using Alfred and Launchbar recently and LB far outperforms Alfred for me. And QS was generally on par with LB in my experience.

Good to see that QS still gets some attention. It was always the first thing I installed after a fresh OSX install :D
 
I'm so, so, so much happy it's being updated after 5 years without any word on an "official" build.

Also, is someone still using TextMate Ranker? I can't make it work, it seems to empty the catalog if I select it as ranking engine... :(
 
Quicksilver just seems kind of useless to me. I'm glad other people can put it to good use though.
 
Alfred

Oh, Alfred all the way. I just like the feel of it much better than Launchbar. And it's WAY more elegant than QS.
 
Quicksilver just seems kind of useless to me. I'm glad other people can put it to good use though.

Ehh.. well considering how I can launch iTunes by [ctrl + space "it" {enter}] in only .5 seconds, with 100% accuracy, and never needing to move my mouse (which would take closer to 5-10 seconds to move my mouse to the dock, find iTunes, and select it), it's definitely not useless, but it's definitely not for everyone ;)


I switched to Alfred after becoming tired of QS' bugs. If Blacktree releases some more incremental updates I'll probably switch back... I love the minimalist appearance of QS, but love the way Alfred's CMD+1 selection process works.
 
Just wondering if you could expand on that a bit :)

I'm been using Alfred and Launchbar recently and LB far outperforms Alfred for me. And QS was generally on par with LB in my experience.

Good to see that QS still gets some attention. It was always the first thing I installed after a fresh OSX install :D

Yeah, I know it seems like it shouldn't make sense, but I feel like I'm able to do things with Alfred much more easily than I could ever do with QS.

I know that QS and LB are much more powerful applications, but I didn't have the patience to ride that learning curve. Since Alfred is a simpler app, it's been easier for me to learn all the things that it can do, and I'm sure it'll just get better since it's still early in development.
 
my experience with QS so far is that its pretty much irreplaceable until someone comes up with a better, more versatile trigger and plugin system.

the mainstream contenders such as Launchbar and Alfred seem to be designed more for beginners or those that can't be bothered to master the software they are using on a regular basis.

i guess its the difference between those people that read the instruction manual and those that don't.

i use Quicksilver for so many things it would take ages to list them.
 
my experience with QS so far is that its pretty much irreplaceable until someone comes up with a better, more versatile trigger and plugin system.

the mainstream contenders such as Launchbar and Alfred seem to be designed more for beginners or those that can't be bothered to master the software they are using on a regular basis.

i guess its the difference between those people that read the instruction manual and those that don't.

i use Quicksilver for so many things it would take ages to list them.

I use to use QS, then switched to Alfred like so many before me because of bugginess.

Now, my question (since I'm the type not to read the manual), is...can you give me examples of what else I may be able to do with QS other than simply launch a program? All I've ever used QS/Alfred for is program launching, but would like to know what else it's capable of (with examples...).

Thanks!
 
Ehh.. well considering how I can launch iTunes by [ctrl + space "it" {enter}] in only .5 seconds, with 100% accuracy, and never needing to move my mouse (which would take closer to 5-10 seconds to move my mouse to the dock, find iTunes, and select it), it's definitely not useless, but it's definitely not for everyone ;)

Can't you do that with spotlight? or am I missing something?
 
Spotlight isn't as fast. Its not until you actually use QS/LB/Alfred do you realize how fast App launching can actually be.

I must be missing something. I have tried Alfred, and preferred its graphics, but what I like most about QS is that I can mistype anything and it learns my choices, so that typing "s" now means Safari and "sys" means System Preferences. Sure, Alfred is snappy, but it's just a launcher, it seems, and in a way that seems even weaker than Spotlight.
 
I must be missing something. I have tried Alfred, and preferred its graphics, but what I like most about QS is that I can mistype anything and it learns my choices, so that typing "s" now means Safari and "sys" means System Preferences. Sure, Alfred is snappy, but it's just a launcher, it seems, and in a way that seems even weaker than Spotlight.

the "in" prefix in Alfred does a spotlight-style search, scanning the contents of files.
 
Launch Bar for me. Tried QuickSilver but found it very confusing. Alfred is great looking but nowhere near as powerful as LB.
 
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