Whats so special about Quicksilver?

[chrono1081]

I've read tutorials on it, Ive downloaded it, played with it, uninstalled it. I HAVE to be missing something here. To me it looks just like a more complicated way to get to programs and things you want. What am I missing? What does it really do? I don't get why everyone is so in love with this program. Can someone please explain it to me?

Everything online I find about it gushes about how great it is but always ends up boiling down to "it helps you open applications faster"

 

[Hald]

Try Youtube.

Try searching youtube and watch the tutorials. They teach you how to install plugins that will allow you to do a lot of cool stuff.

I dont know if its okay to post links so i will leave it to you to find it on youtube, BUT its easy to find.

 

[chrono1081]

Youtube is blocked here : /

 

[reclusivemonkey]

Launching applications is small part of what QS can do. It will allow you to carry out actions for almost all of these applications. Some examples;

I create a lot of lists. I fire up QS, enter text mode, write the first line of the list, "Create file..." and then enter the file name. Its started. I can then add items by again firing up QS, entering text mode, typing the next item "Append to..." then enter my list name. Obviously these are not lists I know the whole content for straight away. First one that springs to mind is my shopping list; I think "Oh, I need X", and in less than a couple of seconds its added.

You can also move/copy items much faster than by dragging and dropping. Use the "Current Item" key shortcut, then "Move to.../Copy to..." and then start to type the location. You can use the arrow keys to navigate to places not indexed by QS and reach any part of your system.

That's just scratching the surface. You have to put a fair bit of time and effort into learning QS, but IMHO its well worth it, especially on a laptop where its much easier to use the keyboard than a trackpad.

There are some good tutorials here.

 

[Scorch07]

Heck, I just use it to open applications and I still love it, especially for apps that aren't on my dock. I could go into my applications folder and scroll until I get to an app, or I could hit my QS command, type in the first few letters, and hit enter! I was like you at first, I was like "What's the point?" You just have to get in the habit of using it, then you start to see the value of it.

 

[dolphin842]

I rely on Quicksilver all the time for the following functions:

- Launching apps
- Opening folders and navigating the filesystem
- Launching scripts via hotkeys
- Searching through, playing, and controlling iTunes via keyboard shortcuts
- Appending plain text to .txt lists I have
- Indexing and searching through 1500+ Safari bookmarks
- Moving files to folders


One plus Quicksilver has over Spotlight is that it has fuzzy matching: typing in "afari" or "Safri" for example will bring up Safari, whereas Spotlight requires exact string matching from the beginning of a file name.

On the other hand, since you're new to these types of applications, I would suggest you try out a commercial app like LaunchBar. Quicksilver is no longer in active development, so there's no guarantee it'll work on future OS X versions. I still use it only due to force of habit.