Tunes - Tuneflow

Windows only: Porta'Menu is a tiny (175k!) application launcher for your portable drives. It is extremely spartan, but effective.

Quicksilver isn't the only Mac launcher on the block: in this eight minute video, Macworld's Rob Griffiths does a nice demonstration of what's possible with the free Butler.

Quicksilver isn't the only Mac launcher on the block: in this eight minute video, Macworld's Rob Griffiths does a nice demonstration of what's possible with the free Butler.

In the past year we've highlighted hundreds of Windows apps aimed at making your life easier, boosting your computer productivity, and powering up your PC. For those of you who weren't able to keep up, here's a look back at the most popular Windows downloads of 2008.

Windows only: Free application HotKeyz makes it simple to create and manage keyboard shortcuts to run special commands or launch any file or folder on your computer. Most of what you're likely to do with HotKeyz can also be accomplished in one form or another using as-you-type application launchers, but if you prefer memorizing a quick keyboard shortcut to the invoke-and-type style app launchers, HotKeyz makes it all very simple.

Weblog SimpleHelp details how to use previously mentioned NirCmd—a command-line app that can turn off your monitor, empty your Recycle Bin, change the system volume, and more—in conjunction with Launchy to put more functionality at your fingertips.

Reader Justin writes in with a clever idea for quickly launching downloads with the popular command-line download manager, wget. His method: Make wget available to Launchy, then pass the URL of the file you want to download to wget through Launchy. Here's how it works:

Reading Lifehacker can inspire you to reboot your computer habits, your workflow, your workspace, and even your home life. Believe me, I should know. About a year ago, I was a messy-desked, easily-distracted reporter who relished his lunch-break reading of Lifehacker's RSS feed. I asked to write a few posts, lucked into a real gig, and can now tell the story of becoming a task-minded guru who gets things done with the right software.

Windows only: iTuny is a free plug-in for popular application launcher Launchy that controls music playback and so much more. Once installed, iTuny adds several actions to Launchy that allow you to play, pause, stop, or advance playback, which alone is a nice start.