As the title says. I'm curious how often people use this feature in OSX Lion to launch programs.
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I don't really like 10.7, it's too slow.
I only use launchpad when I'm too lazy to go trough the dock or just for fun -
haha thanks for reminding me to use it.
I think Lion is better optimized for an SSD, as I get very fast boot up times similar to Windows 7, though Lion is more susceptible to freezes than Win 7 (very stable). -
Karamazovmm Overthinking? Always!
I just use launch control, the gesture got into me pretty quickly and I never liked the dock, since it steals some of the few precious pixels that I have on the mbp 13.
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You can always "hide" the dock when you are not using it !
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kornchild2002 Notebook Deity
Call me old fashioned but I still primarily use the dock. Then, if I don't have a shortcut to the program I am looking for, I use a four finger pinch to pull up the Launchpad. After that I will normally add a shortcut for the program in the dock or I will forget about it if I run the program ~1 time a month. I like to have all my heavily accessed programs in the dock though.
I did the same thing when Win 7 came out. I deleted all of the program shortcuts on my desktop and added them to the task bar instead kind of simulating the OS X dock experience (though not nearly as flashy). There's just something convenient about having access to programs in a dock like that. It makes launching new programs really easy and I only have to move my mouse instead of doing a gesture (though that is really easy to pull off) or going through the Finder. -
only dock... launchpad is useless IMO.
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Launchpad is great. I keep my dock completely empty, it only shows what is currently running... and I have it on autohide so I don't see it that much.
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My frequently used apps and folders are on the Dock.
Launchpad is too cluttered, and the gesture doesn't go well on me either. So I never use it.
Actually, for me the fastest way to open anything on a Mac is still CMD+Space -
saturnotaku Notebook Nobel Laureate
I used Launchpad more when I first got my MBP, but in the last 4-5 months I've maybe used 5 times. I keep frequently accessed items in the dock or use CMD+Space to launch programs.
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CMD+Space and typing is faster? really? I always found that extremely slow.
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Anyway, if i start typing about the first 2-3 letters of what I'm looking for, it's there in the results. I'd have to time it to be 100% scientifically correct, but it feels faster to open Spotlight with the keyboard shortcut and start typing some letters than to go through the Applications folder, which I have in the Dock.
I also use Spotlight all the time for opening documents, images, movies,... as it's faster then going through the Finder tree. -
masterchef341 The guy from The Notebook
CMD+space+(first few characters, often just one)+enter
For me, it's much faster than the launchpad or the dock or any other method that requires pointing with the trackpad, just because typing is extremely fast. -
Karamazovmm Overthinking? Always!
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Out of curiosity - having never used OS X prior to Lion - how does one open an app that isn't on the dock already without going through finder or spotlight?
I certainly use too many apps to have on the dock all the time so the only option I knew of prior to hearing about Spotlight just now was the LaunchPad (I don't consider Finder an alternative as it is a huge huge hassle). -
masterchef341 The guy from The Notebook
There are basically 4 ways to launch applications and you just went through them. I suppose you could also put an application or an application shortcut on your desktop, but it will just clutter up your desktop. How many ways do you need?
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masterchef341 The guy from The Notebook
and i almost forgot- you can also drag your application folder to the dock and use stacks to launch your applications if you want. that's sort of similar to a start menu style.
i suppose you could also use the terminal to do it manually.
i can't imagine anyone is dying for more ways to launch applications. -
yeah, you can put any folder on your right side dock and it works kinda like a "start menu" if you put it in List form.
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The way it feels to me is:
Launchpad = Start Menu, all your programs in folders (though only 1 layer of folders vs Windows' multiple layers)
Dock = Windows 7 style task bar where you can pin applications to it
Spotlight = Start menu and typing an app name (I always hit the start button on the keyboard and type out the program name)
Finder = Explorer
I think Launchpad is a great addition and fills a large void as I couldn't imagine not having a start menu style list of installed applications. -
masterchef341 The guy from The Notebook
i guess the fact that the only method I use to launch applications in windows is extremely similar is relevant:
windows key + first few letters of application name + enter
I'm not really interested in clicking through the start menu or clicking around the launchpad. If I could get a grid-list of my applications and touch the one i wanted to run (iOS style) I might use that. But I don't think I can get any faster than the system I use now with a trackpad. -
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* (I mean in terms of function, not look; the switch from Aero styling to Metro styling actually takes Windows dramatically away from OSX in terms of aesthetics).
The Start Screen, Windows 8's functional equivalent of the Launchpad:
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I use it fairly often. I can't fit all the programs I use on the dock (at least, I don't want to), so I launch the Launchpad every time I want to use something like iBooks Author, BitTorrent, All2Mp3, GarageBand, PhotoBooth, etc. Compared to other programs I use, I don't use those as much, but when I need them, the Launchpad is the way I access them.
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Launchers traditionally came in three basic flavors:
1. Quick launchers optimized for launching a small number of apps or files with minimum user input
2. Menus and organizers for handling larger sets of apps and files
3. Search tools
I don't think these are mutually exclusive and to work efficiently you need a combination. While it wasn't perfect, the old default in OS X (Dock with sticky Applications folder) provides a better combination of 1&2 than Launchpad. I still keep a small number of app icons in the Dock for quick access and also keep the Applications folder in the Dock. I particularly like viewing the Applications folder as a stack in List view because it fits more on the screen at once and has nicely cascading subfolders.
Launchpad fails at being a good quick launcher because it insists on presenting all your apps, forces you to declutter the mess, and it's too slow. Launchpad is also sub-optimal for dealing with large numbers of applications because the icon grid presentation is not space efficient and it's cumbersome to organize. Launchpad also has some strange quirks regarding app removal.
It's a good interface for touch screen input where you don't have a pointer and the lack of fine control dictates a minimum icon size and spacing. But user interfaces that are designed for touch screen input are sub-optimal when used with pointer-based input and vice-versa. -
Although it's cumbersome to manually organize the launchpad, at least you can do it. With the applications folder, everything is sorted alphabetically, which mixes web browsers with games with productivity programs instead of grouping them. I don't have Lion, but I think I'd use the Launchpad in the way HL Dan describes (only the most-common programs in the dock; everything else accessed via Launchpad, grouped in a way that works for me).
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Launchpad itself... ehhh... I have a snow leopard style applications folder on the dock, which I often use (sorted alphabetically etc), launchpad is useful, but I've found most of the apps I've installed are added chronologically, meaning they are on Page 2 of launchpad. So as I generally dislike gestures on a touchpad, I move my mouse to the bottom right hot corner, and then have to scroll right and THEN search for my app.
Launchpad would be better if you could easily arrange more recent apps on the first page, and make the damn icons bigger!
BTW somewhat related, I've recently (last month or so) really started using the full screen app mode in lion... I really missed the 2x2 spaces in SL and the vertical design of the spaces in lion I found quite unwieldy... but being able to quickly launch an application into its own space is quite useful, I think they should however add options to STILL be able to use your dock, launch finder etc from that apps own space. Anyway, how useful do you guys think the full screen apps are? Its nice that launchpad just pops over the top of the app, and if you dismiss it, you are right back where you were... -
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TBH, I'm really perturbed at the responses about Launchpad here. I have no problem if people don't particularly like it or choose not to use it but blatantly dismissing an "OPTION" that we have (which is something Apple generally falls short of) as a useless piece of crap or so to speak is kind of ridiculous. We need options in OS X people!
I don't particularly care much for Automator but it's there and it's an option for some so I'm not going to sit here and downgrade it as a useless feature just because "I" don't see any point in it.
Yeah, and I can find a zillion reasons why Spotlight would be better at launching apps but that doesn't mean I have to downgrade the Dock, the Finder or Launchpad in regards to launching apps. Those are all options for the person that is comfortable using them. -
Totally agree with you on this. Although I never use launchpad, I don't mind having it there, plus is so easily accessed with the Apple touchpad. Metro on the other hand I actually mind having it since it's the default. I launch programs on Windows by using the search bar almost exclusively by pressing the Windows key, much like I do in OSX using Spotlight by pressing command-space. Admittedly I'd only tried Windows 8 very briefly and never bothered to look into changing the default behaviors, but it drove me nuts every time Metro came up when I pressed the Windows key. I'm pretty sure I'll be sitting out Win8 for a while, a first since Windows 3.1.
IMO Metro is totally pointless on a desktop, might be less so on a laptop with touchscreen. Still, I actually tried Windows 8 on a Dell XT3 convertible with touchscreen, and I still didn't enjoy using Metro.
How often do you use Launchpad?
Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by Mitlov, Jun 10, 2012.