The Launcher

An overlooked but useful utility

The Launcher control panel is a utility included with System 7.5 and later that provides quick and easy access to programs, files, or folders of one's choosing. However, it appears that many users quicky dismiss Launcher as a crude and underpowered launching utility, but with a better understanding of its capabilities, a user can benefit from faster access to programs, not to mention a cleaner desktop. The best part is that virtually all Mac users already have this utility installed. This article will present various ways in which Mac users can tailor the Launcher to fit their needs.

The view above shows the Launcher in small icon mode, allowing the display of many more launcher tiles than is possible in the Launcher’s default mode, medium. Views can be switched easily by command-clicking on the colored background behind the launcher tiles. A small contextual-like menu will appear with three different sizes: small, medium, and large. The medium view is shown to the left, and the large view, although not displayed, provides huge launching tiles with oversized icons. My guess for this view is for use with very young users or with very high screen resolutions. One interesting feature of the Launcher is its use of independent views for each category. This means that one category can show tiles in the small view while another category can display the tiles in the medium view.

The categories just mentioned are used to organize tiles into various groups to make them more manageable. New category buttons can be created by opening the Launcher Items folder in the System Folder and creating a new folder with a bullet (option-8) as the first character of its name. Items can be added to the list by dragging them directly into one of the category folders or by dragging them onto the Launcher window. If the latter technique is used, an alias of the original item will be created in the respective category. Also, any items not in a category folder will appear under an Applications category in the Launcher. Items can be moved by dragging them into a different folder from within the Launcher Items folder or by option-dragging a tile in the Launcher window onto a different category button. Dragging items out of the Launcher Items folder or option-dragging tiles out of the Launcher window will remove them. If more involved category maintenance is necessary, a user can jump to a specific category’s folder by option-clicking its category button in the Launcher window.

Dragging and dropping also applies to dragging items onto a launcher tile. This, for example, can be useful for opening a document in a specific application or for placing an item in a folder. Of course one click will open/launch a tile item, and switching categories is accomplished by a single click on the desired category button.

The Launcher can be started by selecting it from the Apple Menu in the Control Panels folder. It can also be configured to appear on startup by putting an alias of it in the Startup Items folder or by checking the “Show Launcher at system startup” option in General Controls. While the Launcher isn't as space conservant as the numerous shareware alternatives, it does its job well and can do more than what most users would give it credit for. Best of all, it's free and already installed on most systems, and that alone makes it worth a try.

Jeremy Hoesly
ResExcellence Software Tester
Jan. 13, 2000