Nov 18, '09 07:30:02AM • Contributed by: nathanator11
The script works by opening programs one by one, with a little time in between. This gives the programs time to load, and allows you to use your computer as soon as you enter your password. The code looks like this:
tell application "Google Notifier" to activate delay 3 tell application "LaunchBar" to activate delay 3 set volume 4 tell application "BOINCManager" to activate tell application "Quick Search Box" to activate tell application "RealPlayer Downloader Agent" to activate
To make this work for you, all you have to do is paste the above code into AppleScript Editor (in Applications » Utilities in 10.6) or Script Editor (in Applications » AppleScript in previous releases), replace the names of applications (tell application...) with yours, and change the delay times to suit your needs (the number represents seconds).
Finder windows can be triggerd by inserting the following code:
tell application "Finder" to open "Path:To:Folder"
Once you've completed the script, save it as an application. Set it as your one and only startup item. This will load at login, and launch the applications one by one.
The result is a computer that is ready to use immediately after login. It has also given me the freedom to use programs that I avoided before, because they caused a longer login time. The only disadvantage I've encountered: the AppleScript commands that are said to hide applications aren't working. As a result, programs pop up a window when they launch. For me, that's been a tiny price to pay for the speed.
[robg adds: This is a simpler version of a much older hint that worked around a then-bug in the OS. Because that original hint is ancient, and was referred to relative to the bug, I thought it worth publishing this new hint, and referring back to the original. The original hint also contains a way to force the launched programs to hide, via an entry in the Comments section of the Get Info window. If you're troubled by long login times while your startup items load, try one of these script-based workarounds.]
