About
The Launcher is an innovative GNOME panel applet and standalone application launcher automatically adapting to your habits. The ultimate goal is to make it possible to run any application with as few clicks as possible. This means tracking your favorite applications, and not forcing you to mark or organize them by hand. Our preferences change with the time passing, and The Launcher responds to that automatically.
In terms of user interface, The Launcher delivers simple, clean and usable interface with advanced features like 'search as you type' and 'smart search', and requires zero configuration effort. The Launcher should be especially handy on touchscreens and in keyboard-only scenarios.
ScreenshotsHere are some screenshots to give you better understanding of what The Launcher is about:
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News
- April 13, 2008: Version 2.4.1.
- Usable application categories support. The list of application categories is available in the header of 'Sections' group and shows installed freedesktop.org applications categories.
- Search interface update to make it less intrusive. Search panel is now hidden on startup and appears when you press Control-F or start typing. Search panel can be closed by close button, pressing Control-F or Escape.
- Improved 'Frequently used' applications sort algorithm. Half-life method is now used instead of counting application runs.
- Application list is now loaded from subfolders. Added to support applications installed in wine and KDE applications.
- The Launcher is no longer shown in taskbar and pager when launched from GNOME panel.
- New configuration file option, 'Mode'. Can be 'fullscreen' (fullscreen window), 'menu' (menu-like window), and 'standard' (normal window, default behavior).
- All configuration file options can be specified in command line using '--option[=value]' notation. If value is not provided, '1' will be used.
- Further startup speed improvements.
- March 2, 2008: Version 2.4.
- Simplified interface: single tab-less view retaining all the functionality of 2.3 version.
- Tray icon launcher.
- Significant startup time decrease.
- '--debug' option to run applet in separate window.
- Older news...
Download
The Launcher version 2.4.1: thelauncher-2.4.1.tar.gz (33Kb)
The Launcher is written in Python. The only frontend supplied currently uses GTK+. Installing pygtk should be sufficient on most distributions for The Launcher to run.
Installation
To install GNOME panel applet, unpack downloaded archive to any location and run 'install-applet' from 'gnome-applet' folder.
To run The Launcher in standalone mode no installation is required. Inside the archive you will find 'thelauncher' executable that can be run from any location.
Usage
The easiest way to use The Launcher on touchscreen or with mouse is to install it as GNOME panel applet or to add it to the panel as an application launcher.
Alternatively, you may use tray icon to invoke The Launcher. To do that, run 'thelauncher-trayicon' from 'tray-icon' folder.
The best way to use The Launcher from keyboard is to assign it to a hotkey. Here you can find a good tutorial describing how to do that under different window managers and desktop environments. Alternatively, you may use programs like XBindKeys, actkbd or KeyTouch.
Applications groups
The Launcher automatically arranges applications into three groups. You can quickly scroll to one of these groups using F1-F3 keys.
- Recently installed group appears when you installed some applications recently. Applications will disappear from this group after you launch them or after some time of not paying any attention to them.
- Frequently used group shows applications you launched recently. Most frequently used applications are displayed first. This group is intended to be the most useful view in The Launcher - it adapts to your habbits as you favorite applications pop up automatically..
- Sections group shows all applications or one of freedesktop.org applications categories.
To Do
While The Launcher is usable in its current state, the project is under development to ensure better integration with modern desktops. The key items on the agenda include:
- GNOME panel applet performance improvement
- Further interface improvements
- Packages for major distributions
- Internationalization and localization
One of the biggest problems with existing The Launcher design is spatial memory. The way The Launcher operates contradicts to the spatial memory concept: we prefer our frequently used applications to stay in the same place, and this is not always true in The Launcher. I am investigating different solutions, pinning the applications may be one of them.
Any help on one of these items (as well as any others, including testing and documentation writing) is most welcome. Please see project contact details below.