I’m a huge fan of of the free Launchy because it is a well-developed application launcher. A new program that I recently decided to give a whirl is called Enso, and it is also free. In many aspects I would also say that it is even better than Launchy.
To really get the gist of Enso you’ll need to watch their video demonstration. The reason why it is special is that it can be used as an application launcher, spell checker, media controller, translation tool, and much more. In the future users will be able to expand Enso by creating their own add-ons for it.
To activate Enso after you’ve got it installed just hold down the Caps Lock key and type in one of the supported commands. You’ll begin to see results as you type, and they are shown in large text to ensure that you don’t have to strain your eyes. When you’re done typing just release the Caps Lock key to process the command. To see a list of supported commands type “command list” while holding down the Caps Lock key.
Tip: In the preferences you can force Enso to act like other application launchers, where a single key activates the program and the Enter key processes the command.
The Enso Launcher is my favorite aspect of the program because you can maximize/minimize windows, switch between running programs, and close/start an application in just seconds. What’s even more amazing is that the “go” command, which is used to switch between running programs, also recognizes tabs in the browser.
The developers of Enso are also the ones who created Songza, which Ashley recently reviewed. Some of them were also just brought on to the Mozilla team to work on Firefox, which is a good indication that they know what they are doing. Now I can’t wait to see what Enso 2.0 is like!
Enso Homepage
Thanks for the tip Jack of all Trades!
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Tags: Freeware, Software, Application Launchers
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@Ryan:
I echo with you all the way regarding this launcher from Humanized. The specific characteristic that I love about Humanized products is the User Interface (UI). They have deeply studied how human beings interact with computers and programmed their products accordingly.
No wonder their key employees were recently hired by Mozilla to enhance Firefox 3. I just can’t wait to see how Firefox 3 will look and feel like, having these whiz kids around.
Great post and excellent product!
Regards,
Omar.-
Thanks, sounds interesting. The video demo seems as though it’s handy, but I’m always sceptical of introducing yet another program for something
Will check it out.
I’m trying it out right now and I have to say it works very smoothly. I’ve found a very handy ‘tip’ for this. If you click Caps Lock and Shift, it will keep the Enso tool on the screen. This will make it so you don’t need to hold Caps Lock as you are typing in commands.
I also suggest installing all the beta apps. You get a lot more functions.
It is interesting, but I think it is only just a milestone (maybe at 123 yards) for the really usable, more humanistic interface. I cannot see why is it “easier” to type commands in order to launch application or switch tab instead of simple clicking. If someone can type, he can click or shortcut key, too, so it is not for disabled, for sure. Moreover, the Vista Start menu search, and any shortcut icons
(however, the later must be personalized) works well, too.
and maybe just here I saw a video about that.
And if a user is so unexperienced that typing commands may help – well, I do not think so, since he must not even know the words like “tab”, or “firefox”. My father sure does not know, although uses “tab”.
So, if all of these could be operated by voice commands, that would be more welcome – but also, it is included, but does not work with Hungarian Vista…
How does this compare w/ DonationCoder’s FARR?
As far as the dictionary is concerned from the video demonstration, it’s no way better than something like WordWeb 2.0. Their process involve holding down the tab key and they typing. How do you type when you are holding down the tab key? All your qwerty routines are screwed! Dictionary software always work better using the clicks because most of the time you’re reading something without hands on the keyboard so it’s easier to, say, hold down the alt key and click on the word to see the meaning, wikipedia entry, wiktionary etc like in wordweb than to select the word, hold donw caps key, and type. That’s a lot more steps and time.
I think Enso has a lot of potential and one has to read the philosophy behind the tool to appreciate how it’s trying to be useful. Having said that I am getting addicted to using Enso Launcher and not so much of Enso Words. I did review both at techie-buzz.com for anyone interested in such things.
K-,
how is the typing while holding down the caps key? at least with launchy you just use the alt+space bar and can type away but I’m not too sure about typing whiling holding down the caps key.
the other question I have, does one have to type “open” + the program name or one can simply type the program name to launch it? e.g. Open Calculator vs. Calculator. Thanks.
Nifty! That will be nice when typing some of the longer commands.
The point is that users don’t have to take their hand off of the keyboard to do these tasks. It’s the same reasons that Windows comes with Alt+Tab for switching between applications…even though you could just click on the window on the Taskbar.
I would say that they both accomplish similar tasks, but I really like the interface that Enso has a lot better. The supersized text makes it really easy to see what you’re doing.
It’s not bad having to hold down the Caps key and I like it way better than using the Alt+Space in Launchy. As I said in the article though, this can be switched so that you don’t have to hold the key down, but then you have to hit Enter after completing a command.