I totally second the LB vs QS, AmberV.
I had been using LB for a long time before QS came about, and while I think it's a great app, and tried it many times at length (I love freeware), it always remained always buggier, slower, took more memory, took more CPU, and was worse at guessing & learning my abbreviations.
I need stacks!
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PrimitiveWorkerPr
- Posts: 16
- Joined: Mon Jul 02, 2007 8:53 pm
On QuickSilver:
Coming from linux, I used to use the Terminal constantly to perform menial tasks on my Mac. It's just my most comfortable environment. But after diving headfirst into QuickSilver I'm using the Terminal less and less, and finding ways to reconfigure my command-line habits into QuickSilver behaviors.
[quote="43Folders: http://www.43folders.com/2005/04/02/qui ... ized-well/"]
Victor Says:
April 4th, 2005 at 6:34
“After an adaptation period, Quicksilver becomes an extension of yourself; the process fades away leaving only the results.â€
Coming from linux, I used to use the Terminal constantly to perform menial tasks on my Mac. It's just my most comfortable environment. But after diving headfirst into QuickSilver I'm using the Terminal less and less, and finding ways to reconfigure my command-line habits into QuickSilver behaviors.
[quote="43Folders: http://www.43folders.com/2005/04/02/qui ... ized-well/"]
Victor Says:
April 4th, 2005 at 6:34
“After an adaptation period, Quicksilver becomes an extension of yourself; the process fades away leaving only the results.â€
AmberV wrote:I'm not going to list out every single thing you can do with a selected target, but suffice to say, it is quite a bit more than move, copy, or launch---and you don't need to fiddle with a single default or enable any action sets to do them.
Assuming you mean that the default action depends on what you've selected, then again, it's exactly the same for QS. I wasn't intending to list every possible action either
What I'm pointing out is that even for a file where the default is normally, say, 'launch', you can change the default - *if you want* - to something else.But, I never once said that QuickSilver cannot do something that LaunchBar can
You did heavily imply it, though, when you mentioned the cmd-spacebar holding trick to activate selected items. And I know a lot of QS users simply don't know that feature exists in QS (despite being in the documentation, and having been around for ages - hmmm, I wonder what other app that sounds like?
). If you knew about it, it would seem a strange thing to use when comparing LB to QS, so I assumed you didn't.
Anyway, we're falling down the Internet Nitpicking Rabbit Hole here, so let's draw a veil. I have no stake in QS, so don't really care whether someone uses it, LB, DragThing or whatever - like you, I would always advocate using whatever works *for you*.
Antony Johnston
antonyjohnston.com
antonyjohnston.com
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hallogalloha
- Posts: 74
- Joined: Sat Feb 17, 2007 9:50 am
- Location: Umeå, Sweden
Thanks for all excellent replies and tips. I started having a inbox, work in progress, outgoing box some months ago. But I ended up deleting them couse it bugged me too much that I couldn't find any good icons for them. 
I actually hate the look of os x default folder. But maybe I will give this a second try...
As for QS LB I use QS. Do not know why really, but I started using it and of course it sometimes craches, or have problems understanding me, but I found the process of getting into LB quite annoying. The thing launchers is that to start using them you need a week or two where your work is slowed down by them. But I actually liked launch bar, is there any nice tutorial on using it?
And, to get into the whole virtual desktop vs real desktop, I am a quite zealous when it comes to organizing my computer. But somehow I end up with all these files anyway. My real desktop is usually a mess, but right now it is actually very tidy. But that could be couse we just finished the work on our new room, new wallpaper och floor, and last night moved in the desk and computer. Haven't had the time to make a mess yet.
I actually hate the look of os x default folder. But maybe I will give this a second try...
As for QS LB I use QS. Do not know why really, but I started using it and of course it sometimes craches, or have problems understanding me, but I found the process of getting into LB quite annoying. The thing launchers is that to start using them you need a week or two where your work is slowed down by them. But I actually liked launch bar, is there any nice tutorial on using it?
And, to get into the whole virtual desktop vs real desktop, I am a quite zealous when it comes to organizing my computer. But somehow I end up with all these files anyway. My real desktop is usually a mess, but right now it is actually very tidy. But that could be couse we just finished the work on our new room, new wallpaper och floor, and last night moved in the desk and computer. Haven't had the time to make a mess yet.
All "stacks" in Leopard has done is add animation to an already existing feature - you can already put any folder you like in the dock and open it with a right click / ctrl click / two finger trackpad click.
I have one for (aliases of) all the occasionally used apps that I don't want cluttering up my dock, and one for a current project I'm working on. When you right click it opens a vertical column of the contents, with subfolders and so on. There's nothing stopping you putting the downloads folder itself in the dock as Stacks is claimed to revolutionarily do.
For some reason Smart Folders won't show you their contents. You can add one, but you'll have to just 'single click' it and it'll then open a window. Hopefully this will change for Leopard.
Robin
I have one for (aliases of) all the occasionally used apps that I don't want cluttering up my dock, and one for a current project I'm working on. When you right click it opens a vertical column of the contents, with subfolders and so on. There's nothing stopping you putting the downloads folder itself in the dock as Stacks is claimed to revolutionarily do.
For some reason Smart Folders won't show you their contents. You can add one, but you'll have to just 'single click' it and it'll then open a window. Hopefully this will change for Leopard.
Robin
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valente.mac
- Posts: 213
- Joined: Tue Nov 21, 2006 10:50 pm
- Platform: Mac
- Location: Algarve, Portugal
hallogallo wrote:As for QS LB I use QS. Do not know why really, but I started using it and of course it sometimes craches, or have problems understanding me, but I found the process of getting into LB quite annoying. The thing launchers is that to start using them you need a week or two where your work is slowed down by them. But I actually liked launch bar, is there any nice tutorial on using it?
Well, if you are like me, you are using QS because it's a great launcher (etc.), especially considering you don't have to pay for it. I has amazing abilities -- I even suspect it can make toasts!
The reasons why I changed to LB are basically two: 1) stability, 2) easiness of use. On these, LB beats QS. But you have to pay for it.
As to the tutorial -- LB's Help menu is great. The best way is to install and try it, following the 'Help' tips and tricks. The trial version (download at the website) only allows you to trigger seven actions each session, but it's enough for you to know how it works.
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PrimitiveWorkerPr
- Posts: 16
- Joined: Mon Jul 02, 2007 8:53 pm
hallogallo wrote:Thanks for all excellent replies and tips. I started having a inbox, work in progress, outgoing box some months ago. But I ended up deleting them couse it bugged me too much that I couldn't find any good icons for them.
You may want to consider the Kinkless Desktop, which like your earlier attempt centers around an inbox, work in progress, and outbox folder. At minimum, he has some nice freely available icons. There are lots of other desktop management habits and tweaks in that five-part series, so there might be something you like in it.
Besides, it's always nice to see how other organization nerds handle things.
Habits are different, of course, and yes, it's very interesting to hear how others work. I stop and read at every blog that talks about that.
Speaking for myself, I can't see the usefulness of an empty desktop. It's there to be used, isn't it? And how do you use a desk? You put the things on it that you actually need. As long as you put them away again once you're finished, this won't do no harm.
But exactly this seems to be the problem in all cases of "cluttered desktops" - that one does not put the things away in the end. So the desktop is no longer a temporary but a final storage for things, and of course this will do no good in the long run.
The only medicine here is to develop the habit of storing things away, but what you need to be able to do this is a place where to put them. In the real world of limited offices, this poses very often a big problem - it has become far more easier on the almost infinite hard disks of today: Maintain appropriate folders within folders within folders... They do cost nothing, only a mouseclick and the quick creation of a title, and Spotlight & Co. will find what did not end up in the exactly right place.
It is a question of numbers, of course. If you download something once in a while, it's no big deal to have it land on the desktop first and to deal with whatever it is later by dragging it across your filing system. If you download hundred files in an hour, you're well advised to think about how to process them efficiently afterwards, and to engage some automatic demons might be indeed helpful. A question of dimensions, just as it makes a difference whether you make dinner for yourself and one significant other or for threehundred people.
So, my computer desktop and the top of the desk where the computer has it's place look very much alike: Mildly crowded, signaling "somebody's working here"...
Speaking for myself, I can't see the usefulness of an empty desktop. It's there to be used, isn't it? And how do you use a desk? You put the things on it that you actually need. As long as you put them away again once you're finished, this won't do no harm.
But exactly this seems to be the problem in all cases of "cluttered desktops" - that one does not put the things away in the end. So the desktop is no longer a temporary but a final storage for things, and of course this will do no good in the long run.
The only medicine here is to develop the habit of storing things away, but what you need to be able to do this is a place where to put them. In the real world of limited offices, this poses very often a big problem - it has become far more easier on the almost infinite hard disks of today: Maintain appropriate folders within folders within folders... They do cost nothing, only a mouseclick and the quick creation of a title, and Spotlight & Co. will find what did not end up in the exactly right place.
It is a question of numbers, of course. If you download something once in a while, it's no big deal to have it land on the desktop first and to deal with whatever it is later by dragging it across your filing system. If you download hundred files in an hour, you're well advised to think about how to process them efficiently afterwards, and to engage some automatic demons might be indeed helpful. A question of dimensions, just as it makes a difference whether you make dinner for yourself and one significant other or for threehundred people.
So, my computer desktop and the top of the desk where the computer has it's place look very much alike: Mildly crowded, signaling "somebody's working here"...
I use DragThing. I tried all the other ones, and DragThing just fit me the best. At any given time I only have three icons on my desktop - a 'pre-trash' folder, my hard drive, and the Trash (which DragThing puts back on the desktop, one feature of OS 9 that I still prefer over X). I also have a bunch of DragThing docks hidden away on the edge of my screen, visible only by little tabs, that contain almost everything on my computer I use regularly.
And that, my Liege, is how we know the earth to be banana-shaped.
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spinningdocsp
- Posts: 241
- Joined: Fri Feb 02, 2007 11:18 am
I tried out Dragthing for a while but couldn't see how it did anything the Dock doesn't. Can you enlighten me?
Mostly it's the ability to have multiple and highly-customizable Docks. You can specify the size of the icons, whether icons or names are displayed, multiple tabs in each dock, etc.
For instance, I have an Applications dock, which contains four tabs - Utilities, Games, Writing Tools, and General Apps. If I put all of those applications on the Dock, it would be very crowded indeed.
Another dock is dedicated to my personal library, with tabs for folders such as Books, Stories, Essays, Poems, and so on and so forth.
I also have another dock called Documents, with tabs for frequently-accessed documents - finished stories, unfinished stories, a special one for Scrivener documents, etc.
I have all of these docks hidden, so they slide off the screen unless used. You can make them completely invisible, like the Apple Dock, but I like to keep mine so just the tabs show on the edge of the screen, each with a custom icon to indicate the tab rather than the words (saves space).
And with each dock and tab within docks, you can totally customize the behavior and appearance - from a brushed-metal look to all sorts of themes to completely transparent. You can also assign hot-keys to any dock, and to any item within the docks. There's also an option to highlight applications in the docks with tags that identify them as Classic apps (and, if you have an Intel Mac, as apps that require Rosetta).
There's a lot more it can do, too, but that's my main use for them. There are special docks for discs, processes, and windows, but I never use those.
For instance, I have an Applications dock, which contains four tabs - Utilities, Games, Writing Tools, and General Apps. If I put all of those applications on the Dock, it would be very crowded indeed.
Another dock is dedicated to my personal library, with tabs for folders such as Books, Stories, Essays, Poems, and so on and so forth.
I also have another dock called Documents, with tabs for frequently-accessed documents - finished stories, unfinished stories, a special one for Scrivener documents, etc.
I have all of these docks hidden, so they slide off the screen unless used. You can make them completely invisible, like the Apple Dock, but I like to keep mine so just the tabs show on the edge of the screen, each with a custom icon to indicate the tab rather than the words (saves space).
And with each dock and tab within docks, you can totally customize the behavior and appearance - from a brushed-metal look to all sorts of themes to completely transparent. You can also assign hot-keys to any dock, and to any item within the docks. There's also an option to highlight applications in the docks with tags that identify them as Classic apps (and, if you have an Intel Mac, as apps that require Rosetta).
There's a lot more it can do, too, but that's my main use for them. There are special docks for discs, processes, and windows, but I never use those.
And that, my Liege, is how we know the earth to be banana-shaped.
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PJSPJ
- Posts: 1185
- Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2007 5:05 pm
- Platform: Mac + Windows
- Location: Upstate New York
I also use DragThing. When I switched to Mac, I pretty much fell in love with everything -- except the Dock. Hated it then, hate it now. After trying a couple others, names of which I've forgotten, I found DragThing. My set-up is similar to yours: several roll-away docks for different purposes. (It helps that I also found KODock, which keeps the Mac Dock out of my life.)
I tried QS and LB, and realized their capabilities are beyond my power to appreciate, or even comprehend. I'm back to DT, with XMenu in the menu bar for back-up.
I tried QS and LB, and realized their capabilities are beyond my power to appreciate, or even comprehend. I'm back to DT, with XMenu in the menu bar for back-up.
RTJK wrote:All "stacks" in Leopard has done is add animation to an already existing feature - you can already put any folder you like in the dock
I'm not sure it's exactly the same thing, though. When you put a folder in the dock at the moment, you're effectively just making an alias. I was under the impression that the Download stack, for example, *only* exists in the Dock.
I don't have Leopard, so I may be wrong. Either way, a UI improvement is better than nothing
Antony Johnston
antonyjohnston.com
antonyjohnston.com
PJS wrote:I'm back to DT, with XMenu in the menu bar for back-up.
XMenu is a great little utility. I also use FinderPop, and have been trying to decide if I should replace XMenu with it, or just keep using both.
So many system enhancements, so little time...
And that, my Liege, is how we know the earth to be banana-shaped.
I like a clean desktop (virtual) because it offers less of a distraction (and, yes, I keep my Dock hidden, too).
If I keep kibbles and bits all over my desktop, my brain is constantly zipping from one to the next... I have to do that! Don't forget to check that! Oh, I haven't looked at that in a while... Oooo sparklies! Yes, I am easily distracted, so the clutterlessness of it works for me.
I also - sometimes - keep a pic of a current setting of my novel as my wallpaper, so the fewer icons on it the better for my inspiration.
(Things I do have to do have reminders set up for them via Google Calendar or iCal or (now in beta) OmniFocus so I don't forget but also don't take up brain time worrying about them before I need to.)
If I keep kibbles and bits all over my desktop, my brain is constantly zipping from one to the next... I have to do that! Don't forget to check that! Oh, I haven't looked at that in a while... Oooo sparklies!
Yes, I am easily distracted, so the clutterlessness of it works for me.
I also - sometimes - keep a pic of a current setting of my novel as my wallpaper, so the fewer icons on it the better for my inspiration.
(Things I do have to do have reminders set up for them via Google Calendar or iCal or (now in beta) OmniFocus so I don't forget but also don't take up brain time worrying about them before I need to.)