Doggerybaw

Free Software: Find and Run Robot

December 29th, 2008 by scott

I like trying new launchers. Anything that can reduce the need to search for programs in the Windows start menu and clear the desktop of the mass of icons is a good thing. My favorite for the last couple of years has been RocketDock, a launch bar similar to the dock in MacOS. But I think I’ve discovered one I might like better, Find and Run Robot (FARR). FARR doesn’t match RocketDock’s cool eye-candy. There’s no animated launch bar with icons that pop out at you when you mouse over it.

Instead, FARR combines a launcher with desktop search to deliver a fast, easy way to find any program on your computer with just a few key strokes. Then, using its built-in intelligence, it keeps track of your most frequently used programs, which makes them even easier to find and open.

It’s very simple, really. You hit one key combination and a little command-line like window opens. Type a couple of letters and a list of every program beginning with those letters pops up almost instantly. Seriously, the speed is very impressive. After you’ve used it once, FARR adds a list of your most commonly used programs under the text window. The more you use an app, the higher its score, and those apps with the highest score show up at the top of the list. It’s almost like having your computer suggest the apps you want to open, and be right almost every time.

It doesn’t stop there. FARR also recognizes some document types, including OpenOffice.org documents. So, you could go to My Computer, browse through several layers of folders, search through your document folder for the right document, then open it. Or, you can press key combination (I use ctrl-space), type a few letters that appear anywhere in the filename, then press ENter to open the app at the top of the list, or click to open one farther down. No Start menu. No searching through a desktop full of icons. You don’t even have to use the Windows Explorer. Your apps and key files are literally at your fingertips.

What’s more you can set up aliases, or mini menus containing your favorite stuff. This extends the usual list of nine favorite apps by replacing some of them with an alias that you can click for an additional list of apps. In other words, you can use an alias to provide easy access to your favorite writing applications, or your latest manuscript drafts, or whatever you want.

The FARR Web site also contains a number of add-ons that increase the functionality. I haven’t found any that I want, yet, but you might.

I use FARR together with RocketDock. I keep my most frequently used apps on my RocketDock, where I’m used to finding them, hidden conveniently off the top edge of my screen, and I use FARR to open apps I might not open quite as often. But the more I use FARR, the less I’m going to RocketDock. That means I can simplify my dock by getting rid of stuff I don’t use every day.

Simplifying access to apps and files is what this is all about, especially on today’s big hard disks (and tomorrow’s even bigger disks). And it’s especially useful on a laptop, where I can use keystrokes rather than a mouse or thumbpad.

It’s rare that I find a free app that changes the way I interact with my computer, but after using FARR for two or three weeks, I’m almost ready to claim that it’s that kind of app. This thing should be standard on every computer.

Posted in Free Software, Writing

5 Responses to “Free Software: Find and Run Robot”

1. mouser wrote on 12/30/08 at 2:49 pm :

   I can’t tell you how nice it was to read this.. thank you for all the kind words about the program.

   If you have feature requests or plugin ideas please let me know!

   -mouser

2. scott wrote on 12/30/08 at 6:52 pm :

   Hey, mouser, thanks for dropping by. Your little app is amazing, and the more I look at it, the more I discover it can do. The basic features are what attracted me, but I look forward to experimenting with some of the more advanced capabilities. As a free software junkie, I can’t believe this one escaped me for so long.

3. steven wrote on 09/13/09 at 3:49 pm :

   Good read, thanks.

4. yakoizose wrote on 10/10/09 at 3:13 am :

   íîâûå ïðîãðàììû 2009 ñêà÷àòü áåñïëàòíî

5. rabsueharze wrote on 10/12/09 at 7:15 am :

   Òîñòû íà ñâàäüáó îò äðóçåé

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