There are plenty of free application launchers out there. Most of them will work fine in a pinch, and I’ve tried so many that I rarely get excited about seeing a new one. The only reason that I tried Radian, was because it had such a unique looking interface. (see the other app launchers we’ve mentioned)

As you can see from the screenshot, once it’s up, it looks entirely different from most launchers. The Radian launcher is triggered by a continuous right click anywhere on the screen. No matter what application is up on the screen, you’ll still be able to access your favorite applications.

Radian is currently at version 1.0.0.64 and is available for download as a 630k executable setup file. The installation is simple, and there are no surprises or unwanted companion programs. Since Radian is a free and open source software (FOSS) project at Sourceforge.net, I wasn’t expecting anything other than honestly free software.

As soon as the installation finishes, you are tossed into the design mode. This is the part that I found tricky. You’re left to try to figure out how to add, remove and organize the application links in the interface. After a bit of trial and error, I did finally get things the way I wanted them by dragging links around on the launcher and dragging new shortcuts from my Start menu onto the launcher. Once you get the hang of it, it really does make sense.

Later,   you can re-open design mode by right clicking the Radian icon in the system tray.

Here is a video, from one of authors, showing some of the main features. Admittedly, this video has no sound, and it’s way too long, but it may save you time figuring out how to use Radian.

Radian Home Page and Download

Techie Buzz Verdict:

I like the unique interface and it’s ability to be called up no matter what’s showing on your screen. I gave this launcher points for being free and open source. I had to take away points for it’s seeming lack of a help file and good documentation and I’d rate it’s ease of usea little below average. However, if you like impressive graphics and need a good launcher, you should give Radian a try.

Techie Buzz Rating: 3/5 (Good)

RUNit is not just another launcher, it comes with a difference. It is a free, easy to use’ yet quite a powerful launcher that may get one addicted to it. It gives the user quick access to applications, URLs, document folders and shortcuts without taking up any space on the screen (it shows up only when it is actually being used).   It also allows ‘drag and drop’ items, it’s customizable, and it’s portable. Now, isn’t that great!

Download RUNit

The simplest way to access this launch pad is by right clicking a hot area on your screen which is the top edge of the screen by default. One can also select the option of setting up multiple lists of items to be accessed via different hot areas of the screen. A special feature of this launcher is the different ways it is accessed i.e. by a right click on the upper edge of the screen or alternately by enabling shift-right-clicking anywhere on the screen or by pressing ctrl+shift. These may not be the most unique features but its quick accessibility provides utmost user satisfaction. (also read: Controlpad lets you launch applications from numpad)

Here are a few things that may interest you:

1. The option of setting up various lists: You can set it up in such a way that different shortcuts will help you to access different lists. Say for example when you right click the top edge of the screen, the applications will be displayed and by clicking the bottom edge the shortcuts will be displayed.

2. Menu Structure: This launcher supports cascading menu structure which will enable you to use dividers and create folders and sub folders within the menu.

3. The drag and drop’ option: In order to add items all you have to do is drag whatever you want (shortcuts, files, URLs etc) from any location to the RUNit setup dialog.

4. Customize the launcher: there are several things you can do here. For example, select size of icons, change the fonts, reorder items, maximize or minimize applications and set the coordinates on screen where you want a particular app to be placed when launched.

5. Portability: As it is portable you can unzip and run; it does not write to the registry.

Techie-Buzz Verdict

RUNit is one of its kinds and is extremely user friendly. It has become an integral part of my system now. A great launcher for sure!

Techie-Buzz rating: 4/5 (very good)

In the past we have reviewed various application launchers like Launchy, Executor and Enso Launcher. Today we will look at another application launcher – ControlPad.

What sets ControlPad apart from other programs is its basic functioning style. You won’t need to key in the name of the application you wish to launch. Instead you will have to assign numeric identifiers to your most frequently used applications. Once you have associated your favorite applications with ControlPad you can launch them by simply pressing * (to bring up the ControlPad Console) and entering the appropriate numeric id. This is somewhat similar to speed dial functionality in Opera Browser (which itself is based on the Speed Dial functionality found in mobile phones).

If you are not a big fan of numeric identifiers you can also use strings which are easier to remember. ControlPad is designed to be controlled using the NumPad. However, Laptop users need not worry as it also offers a Laptop Mode which utilizes an alternate key configuration.

ControlPad is an advanced utility which would be relished by power users. It’s capable of doing a lot more than just launching applications. ControlPad supports Windows Console Commands and can even be used launch websites and perform online searches. If you wish to unleash the true power of ControlPad, don’t forget to go through the documentation.

[Download ControlPad]

In our day to day blogging life we use several tools and applications like screen capture tools, color pickers, font previewer, application launcher among other things.

However we have to use individual applications for all these tasks, wouldn’t it be good to have all of these and more in a single application?

Also Read: PicPick Tools – All In One Design Tool

Windows Toolbox is a small portable software that is a Swiss army knife like application for Windows.

Windows Toolbox packs in these features into a single application:

• Application Launcher
• Easy access to drives and folders.
• Screen capture utility.
• Color picker.
• Access to installed printers.
• Font viewer.

The software is free to use and definitely worthwhile downloading.

Download Windows Toolbox

Windows PCs have a feature called as Quick Launch Bar which allows you to quickly launch applications without having to go through the All Programs menu, however the quick launch bar is pretty basic, and you cannot group applications or create new menus for it.

Free Launch Bar is a better and free replacement for the standard Quick Launch bar. All functions presented in Quick Launch are also in Free Launch Bar.

Free Launch Bar allows you to combine your shortcuts into groups. This feature looks like popup menus. This vastly improves the management of your shortcuts and save working space on your desktop. By using Free Launch Bar, you speed up the launching of your applications like never before.

Once you have downloaded and installed the software, right click anywhere on the taskbar and select Toolbars > Free Launch Bar from the context menu to activate Free Launch Bar.

Free launch bar looks pretty similar to the Quick launch bar, however you can customize the menu by adding new folders and separators.

This feature is definitely handy when you add several applications to the quick launch bar and want to make it easier to access them.

Download Free Launch Bar

We have been using Launchy as a application launcher for quite some time, and even though there have been several alternatives we have talked about in the past, Executor is definitely a app we would rate higher than Launchy.

The major difference between Launchy and Executor is the the emphasis on user defined keywords, which allow users to set keywords for launching any given application, so for instance we can set a keyword techiebuzzto open up a browser window to load this site. Executor is also very light weight consuming very less memory and seamlessly integrates with Windows Search.

Another interesting feature that impressed us, was the ability to create hotkeys for launching applications without even having to run the Executor application. With Executor you can also view the launch history and clipboard history.

Executor Features

• Keywords have properties like shortcuts, and you can for example drag-drop a shortcut/file/folder/favorite to add it as a keyword.
• Auto-completion for keywords, file system and history (can also be configured).
• Keywords support parameters. Example "google latest executor" "wiki nirvana"
• Each keyword can be assigned a hotkey, so Executor can also perform like many popular hotkey managers.
• Lots of customizations available.
• One keyword or text input can start multiple keywords/urls/programs/documents/files etc. Example one keyword opens three websites and/or programs.
• Special keywords to list (and open) running applications, text previously copied to clipboard and recent documents.

Overall Executor looks like a application that will give Launchy a tough competition. Which application launcher do you use?

Executor [via LifeHacker]