Tab Launchpad is similar to Keyboard Launchpad in that it launches other programs. It’s a program that launches other programs. Thus, it allows for all of your most used programs to be cleaned off your desktop and into one of the platforms of Tab Launchpad.

My favourite aspect of the program was the different tabs – they can be arranged so that different programs are fitted under different categories. For example, my most used programs are fitted in Herbert’s Applications. If I was a graphic designer, I could put programs such as Paint.NET or Photoshop in a tab called Graphics. A gamer would put his games in a Games tab. The tabs can be created as you wish, and even icon-spacing can be altered.

What makes it interesting is how applications are added into tabs – I couldn’t for the life of me figure it out until I explored the program files. Turns out that you drag and drop short-cuts of applications or locations into the tab’s folder to make the corresponding shortcut or location appear in the tab. For example, in our scenario, my tab is named Herbert’s Applications. I dragged in the Mozilla Firefox shortcut to the folder, and – behold, the shortcut appeared on my launchpad.

Although this technology is still relatively new to me, it looks kind of outdated – the whole icon and colour scheme just doesn’t seem up to date.

In my opinion, I would have to consider Tab Launchpad kind of redundant – the word “obsolete” did come to mind, but that would be a stretch. Not because of its looks, but rather, because of the evolution of launching technology. Mac users have Quicksilver, and us Windows users have Launchy – a software that launches software through the keyboard (not functions though, so it’s different from Keyboard Launchpad). In my opinion, Launchy makes things a lot faster – in fact, I found myself launching Tab Launchpad with Launchy. Productive-wise, Launchy is a lot faster, but if you prefer to use a mouse or tabs, then try Tab Launchpad.

Unfortunately, Tab Launchpad isn’t available for download on its own – it comes with Object Desktop; I feel that even though it does bring something unique to the table, it’s in urgent need of a makeover.

I started using a program called Launchy a couple of weeks ago, even though I first heard of it a couple of months ago. As you can imagine, I was a bit skeptical: how could a keyboard solution be better than the mouse I’ve been using this whole time? Let me show you how.

This post started with my calling Launchy a program, but I think it’d be better described as a process running in the background of Windows. It starts with the computer (that can be changed), and takes up around five megabytes of RAM – so by no means do you need an Alienware to run Launchy. When you hit two keys, Alt+Space by default, the Launchy box pops up. Key in the name of a program and hit Enter. The program will then launch.

For example, typing in “Windows Live Writer”, or just “Writer” will launch the program Windows Live Writer.

Launchy’s open-source and can be skinned. If you don’t like the default skin, don’t use it! DeviantArt’s got a great collection of Launchy skins. Launchy is free, so you can try it and see whether it works for you or not – I know that I personally love it and found it to be the best thing since sliced bread, but other people might not be so enthusiastic about it.

No more taking a minute in the Start menu to look for my programs, even though the time was reduced by using the Windows key. Now, I just call up Launchy. I hope it’s as useful for you, dear reader, as it was for me.

For more information about Launchy, visit their official website at http://launchy.net.