LaunchBar has been around for some time now but the release of version 5 may finally see it reach it's full potential as an easy to access and convenient way to get to anything on your Mac.

LaunchBar provides instant access to applications, documents, contacts, bookmarks, music library, search engines and more just by entering short abbreviations of the searched item's name. Simply click on the LaunchBar dock icon or hit Command-Space to bring LaunchBar's input window to the front. Enter an abbreviation and as soon as you start typing, LaunchBar displays the best matching choices.

The principle is exactly the ever used is Quicksilver, LaunchBar may well convince you to convert.e same as Spotlight and since Tiger came along with it integrated, LaunchBar has been made a little redundant, but this latest version certainly gives food for thought.

Spotlight does many of the things LaunchBar can but LaunchBar also offers extra features such as the ability to see all running applications, show recent applications used and your clipboard history. Many of LaunchBar's fans are undoubtedly those who used it before Spotlight came along and Apple surely owes some of inspiration to LaunchBar's instant search accessibility.

LaunchBar is a great tool to find files and folders instantly on your Mac and once you've used it, you may wonder how you managed without it.