WinKey alternative – the search is over! Clavier+
I’ve mentioned in the past how WinKey is slowly dying on newer Windows versions. This small but highly powerful Win+X shortcuts launcher was one of my most favorite ones for a long time ..
Win + F2 – Total Commander
Win + N – notepad
Win + Down – minimize the window
Win + Q – Firefox
Unfortunately, it’s support and development was abandoned by Copernic (I remember seeing a page on their site talking about that) so it started malfunctioning on Windows 7 RC that I’m running at home .. On Windows 2008 64 bits I couldn’t even install it.
Obviously, the time has come to find a replacement.
As I expected, it wasn’t easy – there are zillions of various launchers available but none of them supported simple Win+X shortcuts. Some required clicking with mouse (come on, my hands are already on the keyboard – I don’t want to take them away to grab a mouse just to launch an application!), some were too complex, some were plain ugly.
I think RocketDock, True Launch Bar, and Launch-n-Go were the best candidates but ..
I was looking for an exact WinKey replacement and none of them could deliver that.
Eventually, it struck me to not to search for “keyboard shortcut launcher” but for “WinKey alternative” which brought HoeKey and Clavier+ right away.
Of those two – Clavier+ is definitely the best option:
All right !.. I get my Win+N back. What a relief, really.
It also allows to paste a block of text so with Ctrl+Shift+E I can quickly paste my work e-mail which is quite handy, of course (sending e-mails to myself is something I do a lot)
So .. Why Twitter? turn off buzz
[...] Alternatives: Clavier+ [...]
[...] notes, keeping a bunch of *.txt or *.doc files in a Dropbox folder works ridiculously easy. With Clavier+ and some keyboard shortcuts I get to my favorite documents in a fraction of second. Take that, [...]
WinKeyPlus is another alternative to Winkey.
You can create custom hotkey combinations and also disable keys with it.
Good to know but Clavier+ works just fine for me since then. Thanks! Will delicious it.
[...] the “writing” part is usually done by some sort of application and even a notepad is a Win+N shortcut for me now. When I’m on the go, I usually send short e-mails to myself so I [...]
How do I make a shortcut to a specific word file or picture file?
I believe process is the same, whether you create a shortcut to exe, .doc or .png file.