launcher

Microsoft's PowerToys suite may be about to get another usability boost: a recent report suggests one of its most convenient utilities could gain a small but highly practical enhancement that tightens the gap between Windows and macOS's Quick Look. After checking official documentation, recent...

Raycast has landed a properly modern replacement for the old Win+R prompt — a keyboard-first, discoverable Run command added to Raycast for Windows in v0.41 that aims to behave like the classic Run dialog while offering the features and polish users expect from a modern app launcher. The update...

Windows users who want a faster, smarter, and more productive PC in 2025 no longer need to rely solely on the built-in tools that ship with Windows 10 and Windows 11 — a tight handful of third-party applications now deliver meaningful upgrades to search, launching, archiving, and web-app...

I swapped Windows’ Start menu for the open‑source launcher Wox and, after a week of heavy use, it’s clear why so many Windows power users treat these keyboard‑first launchers as essential — immediate responsiveness, better local search, and a plugin ecosystem that turns app launching into a...

Microsoft's PowerToys Command Palette is a quietly radical fix to a long-standing Windows problem: the default search and launcher experience is slow, noisy, and often gets in the way of productivity — and the case for folding Command Palette into Windows itself has never looked stronger...

If you ever wanted to carry a pocket-sized time machine that looks, sounds, and behaves like Windows XP, a new Android launcher is the closest thing the modern smartphone era has produced — and it’s both delightfully faithful and uncomfortably risky. Released by developer Gorjan Jovanovski, the...

PortableApps puts a full toolkit of your favorite Windows apps on a single USB stick so you can boot up — and be productive — on almost any PC without installing anything locally, a deceptively simple idea that solves real pain for technicians, reviewers, and nomads who bounce between machines...

PowerToys’ new Command Palette arrives as a compact, extensible Spotlight-style launcher that promises to make the legacy Windows Search front end obsolete for most everyday users — but the reality is more nuanced: it’s a major step forward, highly useful for power users, and technically...

Microsoft’s handheld gambit has quietly moved from concept to something you can try on your own device: a controller‑first, full‑screen “Xbox” experience built into Windows 11 is rolling out as part of the platform’s handheld work, and enthusiasts are already using the new handheld view and...

Microsoft’s handheld push has taken a new turn: the Xbox-style, full‑screen “Xbox Mode” that will ship as the default experience on the ROG Xbox Ally family is already appearing on other Windows 11 handhelds — in community builds and hacks — ahead of the Ally’s retail launch, forcing a rapid...

Windows handheld owners who’ve been frustrated by Windows’ desktop baggage can try Microsoft’s new Xbox‑focused, controller‑first “Xbox mode” today — without waiting for the retail 25H2 release — by enrolling in the Xbox Insider previews and switching on the compact/full‑screen Xbox UX in the...

Windows 11’s built‑in Search is useful — until it isn’t: slow responses for non‑indexed folders, a cluttered home panel, and inconsistent results have driven many users to lightweight launchers and desktop search tools that return answers in milliseconds. This piece examines six of the fastest...

Windows 11’s built‑in search can be handy, but for many power users it’s long felt sluggish, cluttered with web suggestions, and inconsistent when dealing with non‑indexed folders or massive file collections — which is why dozens of lightweight, keyboard‑first launchers and indexers have sprung...

Google’s experimental Windows app aims to remove the friction of switching windows to look something up — a floating, Spotlight‑like search bar you summon with Alt + Space that can search local files, installed apps, Google Drive, and the web, and that folds in Google Lens and the company’s AI...

If you hate Windows 11’s visual vibe, there’s a fast, surprisingly polished way to make it behave more like a Linux desktop or macOS without reinstalling your OS: install a full alternative shell called Seelen UI and treat Windows like a platform you can theme, tile, and tweak into something you...

Microsoft’s Xbox app on Windows 11 has quietly evolved from a Game Pass storefront into a genuine, controller-friendly gaming hub capable of listing and launching installed titles from Steam, Epic, GOG, Battle.net and more — and the company is now rolling key pieces of that work out to wider...

Rockstar’s long-awaited PC debut of the original Red Dead Redemption has given many Windows players a reason to celebrate — but a persistent stream of “unable to launch” and crash reports has left a sizable portion of users stranded at the launcher. Community troubleshooting lists (including a...

Microsoft is quietly testing a small but notable convenience feature in Windows 11: a one‑click internet speed test shortcut embedded directly in the network flyout and taskbar context menu — a shortcut that, for now, simply launches Bing’s online speed‑test widget rather than running a native...

Nova Launcher’s original developer has walked away, Microsoft Launcher feels all but idle, and the Android launcher landscape is quietly rearranging itself — but the idea of swapping your home screen still matters, just in different ways than it did a decade ago. Background Third-party Android...

Seelen UI has matured from an experimental curiosity into the closest thing Windows currently has to a true, user‑replaceable desktop environment — a unified, extensible shell built on web technologies that reimagines the taskbar, menus, window management, and theming in a single package...