Quicksilver For Mac
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I’m just about as stingy with installing applications on my computer (and even moreso for my darling Athena) as I was with installing addons in WoW.
Heck, I didn’t even install Firefox until a few quirky behaviors in Safari kept me from being as productive as I like.
However, when sources that I trust and respect tell me that Quicksilver is their favorite app in the whole wide world, well…I listen.
….and then I keep listening, and then I do research, and then I tentatively install…
…and then I fall in love.
What is Quicksilver?
The first and most important thing to know about Quicksilver is that it doesn’t DO anything that you can’t already do.
I found myself wrinkling my brow at what appeared to be a great deal of pomp and circumstance without a whole lot of substance.
Quicksilver doesn’t do anything NEW – it makes old tasks INCREDIBLY EASIER.
It is faster.
It is more efficient.
It is THE tool for those Mac users who (like me) don’t like moving my hands from the keyboard to the mouse in order to work with my UI.
And here I am being vague as well, but it’s awfully hard to be specific without ignoring vast tracks of the tool.
Quicksilver is a tool that helps you do things. What I mean by that is you can install plugins which will allow it to control more and more applications and tasks.
Quicksilver is a Noun.
You type in the key command to bring it up and then start typing whatever you’re looking for. It indexes your hard drive and allows you easy, fast, and intelligent searching for files and applications.
So far, it’s got the same functionality as Spotlight, but there’s more.
The search is the first of three possible “boxes”. Think of it like a sentence structure. You use the search to find the Noun – the thing you want to do an action upon.
If I search for “Scrivener” on my computer, it assumes that I want the Scrivener application by the time I reach “scr” in the search. If it’s wrong, and I want, say, the folder I have named “Scrivener”, I can hit the down arrow and see the array of other things that match my search pattern and select among them.
Quicksilver is a Verb.
The second “box” in our sentence structure is the verb. Now that youv’e found the file or application you’re looking for, what do you want to do with it?
For applications, the default is to open the app. For files, open the file with the default application for it.
If, however, I don’t like either of those defaults, I can tab over to the second box and hit the down arrow again to see other options. I have, for example, used this to rename a series of files on my computer. I could also open with a different application, send to trash, etc, etc. Remember, this is the verb. What do you want to do?
Quicksilver is an Adverb.
Okay, I don’t know if adverb is correct, but SOMETIMES, your verb needs something to qualify it. The third box pops up when your second box option ends with an ellipse “…”
For example, if you chose to open a file with a different application, the third box would pop up and say – okay, what app do you want to open it with?
Or, if you rename a file, it says – okay, what do you want to rename it to?
Again, Nothing New
All of these things are standard functions. The reason Quicksilver is so great is because I can do them all MUCH FASTER.
Open Quicksilver (for me, I have this mapped to ctrl+space). Start typing the name of the application I want to open. Hit enter.
BAM.
This is, for me, much faster than moving my mouse to the dock on the bottom of the screen, finding the right icon, and pressing it.
Granted, I have documented problems clicking on things with a mouse – it’s why I love using my Nostromo gaming hardware when I play Warcraft and City of Heroes. If I have to click on it, I’m going to be very slow.
How Do I Use Quicksilver?
Thus far, I mostly use it to open applications and to find and open files.
I find it much easier to use its interface to step through the file system to find files than to use the default folder structure double-click means.
For example, I keep a monthly tally of receipts that we’ve spent – how much of our money went to groceries, how much of the groceries went to snacks or produce, that kind of thing. (What? Me? Overly organized? Goodness no!)
I have them in a folder called “Receipts”.
I can open finder, go to my home directory, find the folder, double click it, find the file I’m looking for, open that…
…or I can activate Quicksilver and type either “Receipts” (it finds my folder first, and will open it if I want to look at all of them – and also has all of the files with the word ‘receipts’ in the name) or “May” which will find May’s receipt file first, since I name them by month and year.
They both have the same exact result, but one of them is monumentally faster for me.
Also, Quicksilver allows me to step through directories through the use of “/” and “shift+/” (more intuitive than it seems on the screen typed out like that)
For example, if I know that I have a file in my “Stories” directory, and I know I’ll recognize it when I see it but I can’t remember the name – I activate Quicksilver, type in “stories”, then down arrow to “Short Stories”, “/”, “warcraft”, “/”, “Tayt”, “/” and then down arrow to the story I’m looking for. “Enter” to open it, and BAM, good to go.
And That’s Only The Beginning
Saying that the things I am currently using it for are the only things it can do is like saying that my website is the only website on the internet. There are plugins GALORE for this monster. You can tweet, manage your itunes, send emails, manage your calendars…I think it may even bake fresh muffins on Sunday mornings, I’m not sure.
I recommend doing your own research into the plugins and find out which ones would make your life easier.
Drawbacks
Two drawbacks come to mind immediately.
1) I have to know the name of the file, application, or folder. Otherwise I’m not really saving any time, because I’m hunting through my whole computer looking for it.
2) Learning Curve. It feels awkward at first, but after just an hour of playing with it and going through a few online tutorials for beginners, I feel quite adept!
Cost
Oh, I forgot to mention.
It’s free!
WONDERFUL!! I’ve had Quicksilver as long as I’ve had my Mac, because everyone said “Get it.” So it was the first thing I installed after Firefox. Only…I didn’t “get it.” NOW, I do…thanks to you!!
**Mega-hugs** :D
Ooooooh, Shiny!
If only I wasn’t so ridiculously tired of staring at a computer screen by the time I get home, I might have a use for something like that on my Mac at home!
I considered switching to a Mac *because* of Quicksilver (and possibly TextMate). Found some simliar apps for Windows that were either cheap or free (Launchy, AppRocket/Skylight (and then e for TextMate)).
You know, it’s all your fault that I’ve just downloaded and am fiddling around with this app… :P
I know folks that have raved about this app for years but I never really ‘got it’. I’ve been fooling around with it a bit today (having filed this post in the back of my mind after I saw it the other day) and it’s kind of handy though the learning curve is steep. I’m still not sure how to use some of the ‘actions’… it’s a lot of trial and error. I crashed Mail at one point trying to figure out how to start a new message. Teehee.
However, now that I’ve managed to figure out how to add custom web search actions for Wowhead and Goodreads… I can see myself using this regularly. >.>
@Steve
Wootwoot! I’m so glad it helped!
@Lauren
*Laughs* I spend so much time in front of a computer that there’s pretty much no change once I get home.
@Brad-O
Wow. I don’t think I’d consider it strong enough to choose a different operating system, but I have heard of versions of it available for windows. *nod* I could definitely see it appealing to you!
@Softi
*laughs* I hope it works out for you!
@Seri
Egads, you’re going a LOT more complex in use than I am! (which is awesome, since it means that you’re getting more out of it than me).
Woot!