Just wait a minute. If Quicksilver was one of the must-have free Mac apps then why this giveaway? If you’re a die-hard QS fan, then I have 2 very good reasons for you.

One; Quicksilver is no longer is active development. In other words, it’s an abandoned project with no support. Two; LaunchBar is an actively progressing platform and is welcoming QS switchers with open arms. Those two reasons good enough for ya?

So that’s why we’ve got 10 LaunchBar licenses worth $330 to giveaway to 10 fortunate productivists. Will you be one of them?

If I were to list down the complete list of things that LaunchBar is capable of, this article would turn into a novel. The truth is, I haven’t even explored every inch of the application. And like all productivity apps, there is a learning curve. The good news is, using LaunchBar comes quite naturally.

But first, a short introduction (for those who aren’t familiar) about what LaunchBar is. From its name, you would probably have guessed that it’s a launcher of some sort. However, it may surprise you to know that it is actually way more than just that. It’s a productivity tool that will help you in so many ways you wouldn’t have thought possible. Let’s take a quick look.

Invoke LaunchBar by pressing a defined hotkey and you’ll get an unobtrusive bar at the top of your screen that’s ready for a command. What command? Well, just about anything works. It’s pretty smart in the sense that it learns your habits. Type “saf” and Safari returns as the first result. So, that’s the application launcher aspect of LaunchBar. What about other things?

LaunchBar can also be used to open a URL in the default browser, even if the browser isn’t already running.

It can help you invoke a “Compose new message” window without having to click on Mail; all from the keyboard.

Heck, if you want, you can even write up the entire email in LaunchBar.

What I really like about LaunchBar is the fact that it can retrieve data from within applications without launching them. This save a lot of time. For example, if I needed some contact information of a friend of mine; I’d invoke Launchbar using the hotkey and start typing the person’s name.

LaunchBar finds it and boom, instant results.

But let’s say I forgot his or her name — I’d type “AB” to summon Address Book and browse my contacts right from LaunchBar.

If you’re just starting out, it’s a good idea to check out everything LaunchBar is capable of by going to its Index where you can view the possible actions and services.

A few more examples of useful LaunchBar features is automatically creating archives of files and folders.

And one that I regularly use — automatically resizing images by preset percentages.

Like I said, it isn’t easy listing every possible feature LaunchBar has to offer. The trial version of LaunchBar is unrestricted for 30 days. Download it and try it free for a month.

Are you a believer now?

How do I win a copy?

All you need to do is;

Join our Facebook page by clicking on the Become a fan button below.

If you can’t see the fanbox above, click on this link.

To seal the deal, click on the Facebook Share button below the article to spread the news to your friends. Then in comments section of this article, post a link to your Facebook profile (be sure to enter your real email address so that we can contact you if you win!). Existing fans only need to share the article and post a link to their Facebook profile in the comments section below.

This giveaway ends tomorrow, just before the next one starts. Between now and then, you can share this post or comment as many times as you want! The more you interact, the higher your chances of winning.

Let the giveaway begin! Have fun!

MakeUseOf would like to thank Norbert and Objective Development for their generosity while participating in this giveaway. Interesting in sponsoring? We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with us via email.

Tagged: application launchers • giveaway • launchers