Comparison of desktop application launchers

Last updated

An application launcher is a computer program that helps a user to locate and start other computer programs. An application launcher provides shortcuts to computer programs, and stores the shortcuts in one place so they are easier to find.

Contents

In the comparison of desktop application launchers that follows, each section is devoted to a different desktop environment.

Android

Windows

These desktop application launchers work with Microsoft Windows operating systems only.

CreatorLatest stable versionRelease date Software license Open source Programming language Plugin support
Appetizer Laurent Cozic1.4.6.494February 13, 2010 GPL Yes C++, wxWidgets Yes
ASuite SalvadorSoftware2.0April 20, 2020 GPL Yes Delphi No
Classic Shell Ivo Beltchev4.3.1August 12, 2017 MIT Yes C++ Yes [note 1]
KeypirinhaJean-Charles Lefebvre2.26November 18, 2020 Freeware No ?Yes
LiberKey Captel SARL5.8.1129November 30, 2015 Proprietary No ?No
Microsoft PowerToys Run Microsoft 0.73.0August 23, 2023 MIT Yes C++, C# Yes
PortableApps.com Platform Rare Ideas, LLC15.0.2May 17, 2018 GPL Yes [note 2] Delphi No
Quick Access Popup Jean Lalonde11.5.10November 7, 2022 Freeware Yes AutoHotkey No
SliderDock Dimitri Roozendaal1.21October 11, 2010 Creative Commons No ?No
SyMenuGianluca Negrelli7.00.8038 [1] January 3, 2022 Freeware No C# Yes
WoxQianli Fengv1.3.524February 24, 2018 Freeware Yes C# Yes
XIA LinksCENTREL Solutions4.2.12 [2] July 1, 2021 Proprietary No C# No
  1. Via shell namespace extensions inside the menu
  2. PortableApps.com branding is trademarked

Linux

These desktop application launchers work with Linux operating systems only.

CreatorLatest stable versionRelease dateOS Software license Open source Programming language Plugin support
Albert Launcher Manuel Schneider0.18December 27, 2022 Linux ALL No (Source available C++ (Qt)Yes
9menu Arnold Robbins1.8June 1, 2004 Linux GPL Yes C No
Avant Window Navigator Neil J. Patel0.4.2 [3] November 27, 2013 Linux GPL Yes C Yes
dmenu dwm developers4.5 [4] December 19, 2011 Linux MIT License Yes C No
GNOME Do GNOME Do Developers0.95.1 [5] January 23, 2014 Linux GPL Yes C# Yes
Katapult TDE DevelopersR14.0.6 [6] March 5, 2019 Linux with TDE GPL Yes C++ Yes
Unity Dash Canonical Ltd. 7.3.0 [7] June 19, 2014 Ubuntu GPLv3 Yes Vala Yes ("lenses" and "scopes")
Synapse Michal Hruby and Alberto Aldegheri0.2.99.4 [8] April 8, 2018 Linux GPLv3 Yes Vala Yes

macOS

These desktop application launchers work with the Apple macOS operating system only.

CreatorLatest stable versionRelease date Software license Open source Programming language Plugin supportRuns on macOS Catalina
Alfred Running with Crayons5.5March 18, 2024 Proprietary No Objective-C YesYes
Butler Peter Maurer4.4.8January 8, 2024 Proprietary No Objective-C YesYes
DragThing James Thomson5.9.17November 16, 2016 Proprietary No C++ YesNo
LaunchBar Objective Development6.19.1July 5, 2024 Proprietary No Objective-C YesYes
Quicksilver Quicksilver Foundation2.4.2December 28, 2023 Apache License Yes Objective-C YesYes
Raycast Raycast Technologies Ltd.1.79.0July 17, 2024 Proprietary No Swift YesYes
SpeedDockSpeedDock1.9November 5, 2019 Proprietary No Swift NoYes

Cross platform

These desktop application launchers work with two or more different operating systems.

CreatorLatest stable versionRelease dateOS Software license Open source Programming language Plugin supportRuns on macOS Catalina
Launchy Josh Karlin2.5.0April 4, 2010 Microsoft Windows, Linux, macOS GPL Yes C++ (Qt)YesNo

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graphical user interface</span> User interface allowing interaction through graphical icons and visual indicators

A graphical user interface, or GUI, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and visual indicators such as secondary notation. In many applications, GUIs are used instead of text-based UIs, which are based on typed command labels or text navigation. GUIs were introduced in reaction to the perceived steep learning curve of command-line interfaces (CLIs), which require commands to be typed on a computer keyboard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the graphical user interface</span>

The history of the graphical user interface, understood as the use of graphic icons and a pointing device to control a computer, covers a five-decade span of incremental refinements, built on some constant core principles. Several vendors have created their own windowing systems based on independent code, but with basic elements in common that define the WIMP "window, icon, menu and pointing device" paradigm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WordPerfect</span> Word processing application

WordPerfect (WP) is a word processing application, now owned by Alludo, with a long history on multiple personal computer platforms. At the height of its popularity in the 1980s and early 1990s, it was the market leader of word processors, displacing the prior market leader WordStar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Window Maker</span> Window manager

Window Maker is a free and open-source window manager for the X Window System, allowing graphical applications to be run on Unix-like operating-systems. It is designed to emulate NeXTSTEP's GUI as an OpenStep-compatible environment. Window Maker is part of the GNU Project.

The taskbar is a graphical user interface element that has been part of Microsoft Windows since Windows 95, displaying and facilitating switching between running programs. The taskbar and the associated Start Menu were created and named in 1993 by Daniel Oran, a program manager at Microsoft who had previously collaborated on great ape language research with the behavioral psychologist B.F. Skinner at Harvard.

Installation of a computer program, is the act of making the program ready for execution. Installation refers to the particular configuration of software or hardware with a view to making it usable with the computer. A soft or digital copy of the piece of software (program) is needed to install it. There are different processes of installing a piece of software (program). Because the process varies for each program and each computer, programs often come with an installer, a specialised program responsible for doing whatever is needed for the installation. Installation may be part of a larger software deployment process.

Caldera OpenLinux (COL) is a defunct Linux distribution. Caldera originally introduced it in 1997 based on the German LST Power Linux distribution, and then taken over and further developed by Caldera Systems since 1998. A successor to the Caldera Network Desktop put together by Caldera since 1995, OpenLinux was an early "business-oriented distribution" and foreshadowed the direction of developments that came to most other distributions and the Linux community generally.

A compositing manager, or compositor, is software that provides applications with an off-screen buffer for each window. The compositing manager composites the window buffers into an image representing the screen and writes the result into the display memory. A compositing window manager is a window manager that is also a compositing manager.

The Windows shell is the graphical user interface for the Microsoft Windows operating system. Its readily identifiable elements consist of the desktop, the taskbar, the Start menu, the task switcher and the AutoPlay feature. On some versions of Windows, it also includes Flip 3D and the charms. In Windows 10, the Windows Shell Experience Host interface drives visuals like the Start Menu, Action Center, Taskbar, and Task View/Timeline. However, the Windows shell also implements a shell namespace that enables computer programs running on Windows to access the computer's resources via the hierarchy of shell objects. "Desktop" is the top object of the hierarchy; below it there are a number of files and folders stored on the disk, as well as a number of special folders whose contents are either virtual or dynamically created. Recycle Bin, Libraries, Control Panel, This PC and Network are examples of such shell objects.

The Portland Project is an initiative by freedesktop.org aiming at easing the portability of application software between desktop environments and kernels by designing cross-platform APIs and offering implementations thereof as libraries to independent software vendors (ISVs).

In computing, a keyboard shortcut is a sequence or combination of keystrokes on a computer keyboard which invokes commands in software.

dwm Dynamic window manager for X Window System

dwm is a minimalist dynamic window manager for the X Window System developed by Suckless that has influenced the development of several other X window managers, including xmonad and awesome. It is externally similar to wmii, but internally much simpler. dwm is written purely in C for performance and lacks any configuration interface besides editing the source code. One of the project's guidelines is that the source code is intended never to exceed 2000 SLOC, and options meant to be user-configurable are all contained in a single header file.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parallels Desktop for Mac</span> Virtual machine software

Parallels Desktop for Mac is software providing hardware virtualization for Macintosh computers with Intel processors, and since version 16.5 also for Apple silicon-based Macintosh computers. It is developed by Parallels, since 2018 a subsidiary of Corel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trash (computing)</span> Temporary storage for deleted files

In computing, the trash, also known by other names such as dustbin, wastebasket, and others, is a graphical user interface desktop metaphor for temporary storage for files set aside by the user for deletion, but not yet permanently erased. The concept and name is part of Mac operating systems, a similar implementation is called the Recycle Bin in Microsoft Windows, and other operating systems use other names.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Site-specific browser</span> Software application for browsing a particular website

A site-specific browser (SSB) is a software application that is dedicated to accessing pages from a single source (site) on a computer network such as the Internet or a private intranet. SSBs typically simplify the more complex functions of a web browser by excluding the menus, toolbars and browser GUI associated with functions that are external to the workings of a single site. These applications are typically started by a desktop icon which is usually a favicon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unix-like</span> Operating system that behaves similarly to Unix, e.g. Linux

A Unix-like operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, although not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification. A Unix-like application is one that behaves like the corresponding Unix command or shell. Although there are general philosophies for Unix design, there is no technical standard defining the term, and opinions can differ about the degree to which a particular operating system or application is Unix-like.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Criticism of desktop Linux</span> Criticism of certain Linux distributions

Criticism of desktop Linux is a history of comment on the perceived shortcomings of the Linux operating system when installed on desktop computers. These criticisms have been aimed at the plethora of issues and lack of consistency between Linux distributions, their usefulness and ease of use as desktop systems for general end users, driver support and issues with multi-media playback and audio development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raspberry Pi OS</span> Debian-based operating system for Raspberry Pi

Raspberry Pi OS is a Unix-like operating system based on the Debian Linux distribution for the Raspberry Pi family of compact single-board computers. Raspbian was developed independently in 2012, became the primary operating system for these boards since 2013, was originally optimized for the Raspberry Pi 1 and distributed by the Raspberry Pi Foundation. The Raspberry Pi Foundation replaced it 2020 by Raspberry Pi OS.

Pop!_OS Linux distribution developed by System76

Pop OS is a free and open-source Linux distribution, based on Ubuntu, and featuring a customized GNOME desktop environment known as COSMIC. The distribution is developed by American Linux computer manufacturer System76. Pop!_OS is primarily built to be bundled with the computers built by System76, but can also be downloaded and installed on most computers.

Comparison of user features of operating systems refers to a comparison of the general user features of major operating systems in a narrative format. It does not encompass a full exhaustive comparison or description of all technical details of all operating systems. It is a comparison of basic roles and the most prominent features. It also includes the most important features of the operating system's origins, historical development, and role.

References

  1. "SyMenu - What's New: 7.00.8038 [2022.01.03]". www.ugmfree.it. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  2. "XIA Links: Windows Desktop Icon & Shortcut Manager". www.centrel-solutions.com. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  3. "Awn in Launchpad". Launchpad. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  4. "suckless.org software that sucks less". suckless.org. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  5. Rogers, Chris. "Do 0.95.1 released". Launchpad. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  6. "Katapult - Katapult – a general purpose launcher".
  7. "Unity". Launchpad. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  8. "synapse-project - [no description]". Git.launchpad.net. Retrieved 4 January 2019.