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By sheer coincidence I was notified about two different application launchers on the same day. I've had a quick look at each and they are both impressive though they adopt very different approaches. They are tiny downloads and don't need installing so try them both and see which one best suits your style of working.
Appetizer
Here's what the developer Laurent Cozic wrote:
"Appetizer is an open source launcher (or dock) for Windows with support for plugins and skins. It's in general more flexible but less flashy that its competitors. For example, it doesn't have elaborate zoom animations like Rocket Dock, however it supports skins and its entire appearance and exposed functionalities (buttons, etc.) can be fully customized if needed. Additionally, one of the main focus of the app is being lightweight and portable.
My initial goal was actually to allow it to run from any USB key on any Windows systems (2000, XP and Vista are currently supported) without admin rights to be required. I also release a version of it compatible with the PortableApps.com framework (it's currently unofficial and only available on the PortableApps.com forums).
The plugin system is based upon the Lua scripting engine, which means anybody can create a plugin with a simple text editor without having to know a low level language like C or C++, and without the need of a compiler. The plugin API is fully documented with examples at http://app.etizer.org/api-reference
In the same way, the skin is very easy to customize since there's only one image to edit. The app is currently bundled with two skins."
http://app.etizer.org/download (1.3MB)
CodySafe
News of this product came from the folks at http://www.pendriveapps.com. Here's what they said:
"This is a great free tool that is far more useful and convenient than the standard PortableApps menu. With CodySafe you can:
- Manage and launch Portable Applications from your USB device
- Turn any portable drive from a simple storage into a Computer On A Stick.
- Manage any kind of portable apps (not just PAF)
Additional tools and features like Drive Doctor, Find-if-Lost, etc. make it even more attractive."
http://www.codyssey.com/products/codysafe.html (1.7MB)
For some more options see:
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I too use PStart as my portable launcher.
Some of the features for individual app files: autorun scripts on startup and close, schedule when the program runs, include a description, add command line parameters, specify the home directory, hide program from system tray, change the program icon, specify hot keys, and something I've never used (because I'm not sure what it does or what to put in it), add environmental variables.
You can view PStart items either in the PStart panel or as a menu similar to the Start menu. Items can be grouped and groups are collapsible, tree-fashion. Any file or folder can be put in PStart, including those on a network or hard drive. (If the item's location is unavailable -- if, say, the file resides on a network not currently connected -- its icon does not appear. The item's setup in PStart remains intact.)
PStart has Search, Notes and Info features. Search can explore the PStart menu and the Windows Start menu for current user and/or all users. Notes can be displayed by first line or full text, and allow scheduled reminders and note grouping. Info contains file system and space used/free for the current drive (if used portably, for the portable drive; installed locally, for the local drive).
PStart app settings are almost too numerous to list, but include: control how items launch, position the PStart panel window and change its appearance, control the system tray icon appearance and behavior, set up 'sensors' on the display to use mouse actions to show the panel or menu, set up search locations, set up Notes appearance and behavior, and schedule automatic backups of PStart settings.
The only thing I can't do in PStart, but wish I could, is control the size and weight of its text. Text color can be changed, though.
Pstart is what I use for my USB toolkit:
http://www.pegtop.net/start/
The comments from CodySafe are misleading. The PortableApps suite launcher allows for software other than PAF and the PAF software, once installed, is just like any other portable folder than could easily be moved to the folder of some other launcher.
Plus, I can easily launch the PortableApps launcher from my flash drive and run all my programs from it. So those comments came as a surprise.
I'll have to give Appetizer a try. I was beginning to think all portable apps launchers were basically exactly the same.
There is also one several people recommended over at the Best Portable Applications article called geek.menu: http://geek-menu.sourceforge.net/.
http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-portable-programs.htm
Have a look here:
http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/04/27/codysafe-app-launcher-gives-port...
Geek.menu is an excellent portable app launcher. It's the main one I use (followed by U3). A couple months ago I compared it with PortableApps launcher and the U3 launcher at:
http://www.tapland.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=10669
What I wrote is rather long but I was just writing it as I was learning myself. I highly recommend giving geek.menu a try.
thank you for sharing
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i think sTabLauncher is better than all of the launchers. especially beacause of it's tab menu. sTabLauncher is not portable but if you look for something for your computer and not just your usb drives you would find it bettre than all
I agree, sTabLauncher is awesome! Unfortunately I don't think it's portable?
Um, not to be rude or anything, but did you read the title? This is about PORTABLE launchers. If you want to talk about other application launchers there is another section for that that includes Launchy and Find and Run Robot as well as others. You can find that at http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-program-launcher.htm
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