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. iTuny doesn't stop there, though; you can also rate songs, show track info, set the volume, search your library, create new playlists, display album art, post to Twitter, and more. iTuny also integrates with previously mentioned Snarl to display notifications when you invoke iTuny commands via Launchy. The installation and setup are a little confusing, so keep reading for a closer look at how it works.

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Windows only: If you're on a locked-down XP system without the "Run" command available, the Run Dialog Replacement is there to comfort you. The tiny, stand-alone app can be pinned to the Start menu (with a right-click command) or assigned a shortcut, giving you access to power-user tweaks like rolling your own app launcher, shutting down faster, and quickly navigating to any folder. Run Dialog Replacement runs from basic VB scripts, so installing it shouldn't be too tough in even walled-off systems. Run Dialog Replacement is a free download for Windows systems only.

We're huge fans of application launchers around these parts, but if your computer's running on fumes and you can't spare 15 or so extra megabytes of RAM to an app launcher, the Download Squad weblog details how to roll your own app launcher with the Windows Run dialog. Keep in mind that this method doesn't provide any of the advanced indexing or other features you get from other app launchers—you have to configure all your shortcuts manually. However, this has been a tried and true technique for lots of folks before the current crop of app launchers hit the scene, and if those app launchers feel like overkill, the classic Win-R method might be for you. On the other hand, if you're looking for a good app launcher, look no further than the five best application launchers—or my new favorite: previously mentioned Executor.

Windows only: Free application Executor is an application launcher very similar in look and feel to Lifehacker reader's favourite application launcher, Launchy. In fact, after a bit of testing Executor might have just snagged Launchy's place as the app launcher of choice on my Windows machine. One of the major differences between the two is Executor's emphasis on keywords. Although it does text search for just about anything, Executor gives priority to user-assigned keywords for launching apps, documents, and folders. What's more, you can assign a keyboard shortcut to any keyword for quick launches without even invoking Executor. Keyword functionality aside, Executor is also very fast and lightweight, eating just over 10MB of RAM in Task Manager. But that's not all that makes it great.

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Windows only: New kid on the app launcher block Speed Launch brings a dose of novelty and a whole lot of functionality to the scene. Speed Launch, from Microsoft Office Labs, puts a small archery style bull's-eye in the lower right hand corner of your primary monitor. You can drag documents, programs, and URLs onto the target to create a quick launch keyword. For example, drag the executable for Adobe Photoshop to pull up a dialog where you can assign a keyword such as "ps" or "shop" to the program. Similarly, if you have a document you edit frequently like a todo.txt or a spreadsheet, Speed Launch can assign keywords to them such as "todo" or "accounting." Hit the Win+C keyboard combination to pull up the launch menu you see in the screenshot above, enter a keyword to launch the application, document, or bookmark. One of Speed Launch's strong points is the ability to chain together items in a keyword for multiple launches, too.

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Your Start menu and Applications folder are growing larger and harder to navigate every day, but with a solid application launcher at your side, you'll never notice. On Tuesday we put a call out for your favourite application launchers, and over 400 spirited comments later, we've pulled out the five most popular. Take a look at the time-saving app launchers that made the list, and then cast your vote for the one app launcher to rule them all.

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There was a time in the not-so-distant past that launching a new application was a tedious, unpleasant task. Luckily, thanks to a handful of fast and powerful application launchers, our days of digging through the Windows Start menu or hunting for a needle among an enormous haystack of applications are over. If you aren't already using an application launcher to speed up your daily computing, it's about time you start. If you are dedicated to your app launcher, then we want to know about it. For this week's Hive Five, we're tackling the ever-popular and divisive topic of application launchers. Hit the jump for more details and to cast a vote for your favourite application launcher.

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The Digi.Wander.Lust blog posts a handy tip for users of Linux application launcher GNOME Do who find its default pop-up at logon a bit annoying. If you're rocking an Ubuntu system, head to the "Sessions" item in your "Preferences" menu, select GNOME Do and hit edit, then add —quiet (use two dashes, as shown in the pic) to the "Command" field (or edit whatever auto-launcher brings up GNOME Do in other distributions). It's a nice way to save a click and ensure a clean logon screen.

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Windows only: Free menu and icon launcher Kana Launcher won't be a boon to those who've given Launchy or another app-finder a home on their desktop, but it might just fit the bill for those looking to reduce desktop clutter and stop digging through Start menus. Sitting in the system tray, Kana lets you assign the folders, files, and programs you want to access to a floating tray of icons, a collapsible menu list, or all-in-one system tray icons. You can assign multiple programs to a single "Group Launch" list, and set a delay between opening each app to save your memory the strain. Kana Launchers is a free download for Windows systems only.

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Windows only: Keyboard shortcut application Fingertips is a cross between Launchy and Texter—with some (but not all) features of each. Invoke Fingertips with a keystroke to add tasks to your Outlook to-do list, navigate to web site URLs, open folders and launch applications. Additionally, you can set up short text snippets in Fingerprints, which will automatically expand them to fuller versions (like email form letters.) Fingertips looks especially useful to folks who use Outlook: for example, it has shortcuts for adding to your Outlook task list (without starting Outlook!) built in, for quick, behind-the-scenes capture, plus you can add your own custom commands and actions. Screenshots after the jump.

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