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Google Quick Search Box – A Quicksilver Assassin? (Brief Tutorial)
By greg | June 12, 2009
Within the past week or so, Google officially released the free Mac application titled Google Quick Search Box. This application has many similarities to the ever-so-popular open-source (thus free) Mac application called Quicksilver and with good reason. It turns out that the creator of Quicksilver, Nicholas Jitkoff, is employed by Google, and he’s the main man behind Google Quick Search Box. Let me explain why I’m so excited about this app and why it has great potential to be a Quicksilver “assassin.”
First of all, for those of you who aren’t familiar with Quicksilver (it’s ok… come out from underneath that rock…), it’s a productivity application that greatly speeds up ordinary tasks in Mac OS X. For example, say you want to launch a particular application. All you have to do is hit a predefined keystroke (such as Command + Space or Option + Space, start typing the name of the application, and hit enter. Quicksilver automatically launches whatever application you typed/selected. It’s more than a application launcher, too, as multiple plug-ins allow you to send emails, move files to different folders, control iTunes, and much more without ever leaving your keyboard. Quicksilver is the very first application I install on any Mac that I’ll be using regularly. To be completely honest, I feel like it’s a part of Mac OS X (sure Spotlight is great, but it definitely lacks some functionality).
Quicksilver is not without its faults, however. When Jitkoff left Blacktree for Google, the further development of Quicksilver seemed to leave with him (don’t quote this in a research paper… I’m not 100% certain of Quicksilver’s history). For those of you who have used Quicksilver, you know that it can be a bit unstable at times with the spinning beach ball occurring at unwanted times along with sporadic crashes. Even finding the latest “stable” version of Quicksilver can be quite a challenge. There seem to be multiple versions out there that have been modified by multiple people that result in multiple headaches. I’ve told people that I would gladly pay for a fully functioning, unified, developer supported Quicksilver. In comes Google Quick Search Box to the rescue (or at least potentially in the near future).
Thanks to Google Quick Search Box, I’m hoping my problems are solved… without having to dish out any $$. Google Quick Search Box installs in a snap (opposed to the somewhat lengthy Quicksilver configurations), hides comfortably in the background without hogging resources, and functions relatively well, as far as I can tell from my tinkering (go here to download). After installing and launching the app, you can activate it by simply double tapping command or by pressing ctrl + space. A search box similar to the one above will appear (I changed my color scheme). Now you can pretty much start typing whatever the heck you want to search for in the box and an appropriate action will appear.
Want to search for “computer speakers”? Just type “computer speakers” and hit enter (or hit the down arrow until the Google search is highlighted and hit enter). Want to launch an application or open a folder? Type the application/folder name and hit enter. Want to do a quick calculation? Type the equation, and the answer is conveniently displayed (similar to Spotlight). Want to play a song/artist/playlist in iTunes? Type the respective name and press enter. You can scale and rotate images, reveal files in Finder, search contacts, and much more. You can even Tweet directly from Google Quick Search Box! And I’m just scratching the surface.
Here are a few sample screenshots of some of the things Google Quick Search Box can do
I’m not ready to completely jump ship from Quicksilver to GQSB, as GQSB still lacks iTunes triggers, Mail support, and a few others things that I regularly use, but I’m thinking that by the end of the summer, that may change. With GQSB’s support for plug-ins, its functionality should most certainly grow. This definitely has the potential to become my new favorite Mac application. If you get a chance, give Google Quick Search Box a go. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. I’m off to see what plug-ins are currently available. If GQSB lives up to its potential, you’ll definitely see more posts appearing here soon.
Until next time…
Related posts:
- The QuickSilver Application – A Keyboard Enthusiast’s Dream
- GimmeSomeTune – Free iTunes companion
- The Calculator App & Spotlight Calculations
- Firefox Tips, Extensions, and Fixes
- Exposé Just Got a Little Cooler & New Thumbnail Previews (Snow Leopard)
- Spice Up Your Mac Desktop with GeekTool
- Snow Leopard – Installation (Part 1a/2-Two OS Installations in Three Days)
- Snow Leopard – First Impressions and SL’s (not) New Looks (Part 1b/2-Two OS Installations in Three Days)
Topics: Applications, Mac, Mac tips, Productivity | 2 Comments »
June 12th, 2009 at 5:23 pm
Hey man, on a related note:
http://do.davebsd.com/
I mean, as much as this is macblog.mac.
June 13th, 2009 at 2:01 am
@Mattt (yeah, with 3 t’s)
Thanks for that. I learned something new today. When I get around to making my “linux box” (yeah, ambitions are good) I’ll be sure to *wait for it*… do the do.