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What method of application switching do you use most often?
1/1: What method of application switching do you use most often?
Other polls | 4,369 votes | 46 comments
Thanks to...
Switching
I use Witch the most, followed by LaunchBar, then Command Tab - hardly ever use Exposé... I like minimising open windows & now using Witch to find the window I want :)
Switching
I use mostly keyboard shortcuts defined in DragThing, with a few other keyboard shortcuts defined in QuicKeys. I also use Witch, but not very often. Sometimes I click, but keyboard shortcuts dominate.
Many methods
I use command-tab about half the time, but I use other methods a lot too, so I answered "many methods".
Command Tab
I use CMD-Tab all the time.
App vs window switching
Hmm, can't figure out how to put my vote in the poll....
How to vote...
I struggled with voting, too. The voting system is not very intuitive, as one can click on a poll only to see the results. Scroll down, people, and you'll see the votable poll on the right sidebar.
How to vote...
I demand a recount, because I got a hanging chad.
I'd like to vote, but
I can't vote either. What's the deal?
Command+Tab isn't specific enough
I use LiteSwitch X to switch most of the time. Technically, I press Command+Tab, but don't activate the built-in switcher due to LSX. So, perhaps I could have selected "third-party app" and therefore instead "multiple methods." But in truth, Command+Tab is most accurate. For me, it's a semantic issue.
poll measure type of work
Have the idea that this poll tells more about the kind of work done than being a measure of 'better' app switcher. While I have maybe 15 apps open, i only keep windows open for maybe three or four involved in a current job. I have enough area among screens to keep current job windows open. Sometimes one app may have multiple windows, but that's another problem. However someone else who does different work would use a different approach, and different app switching.
poll measure type of work
Exactly, sometimes when I have switch between various apps constantly, I click in open windows. Otherwise, I usually hide 80% of my running apps with open windows and then use the Dock to switch. For a couple of apps I use keyboard shortcuts, mainly for stuff I switch in and out quickly.
Very personal workflow
I have developed a very complicated but personal workflow that makes me very efficient, but I would imagine would not work for most.
I use Virtue desktops, and keep my web browsers on one desktop (usually just Safari, but occasionally Firefox), mail apps on another (Usually just Mail, but also Entourage if I am on campus), and have 2 general purpose desktops for my other apps. I also have 2 desktops dedicated for Parallels virtual machines to run full screen. When I am on a desktop with multiple apps running, I have used expose quite a lot to move between the windows. Virtual Desktops modifies the behavior of expose slightly so that if you hit F9 it will show all windows of all apps that are on that desktop only. Same with F10, if you have 3 mail windows open, but only 2 are on your current desktop F10 will only show those two. When you are used to it, that is very handy. Since getting my Macbook I don't use my 5 button mouse as often, so expose is not always right under my fingers, so I tent to Cmd-Tab and Cmd-~ more often. Of course sometimes I will click on a dock icon if my mouse is near to it, which Virtue has the neat feature of automatically switching desktops when you select an app with no windows on your current desktop. So I pretty much use every method the OS gives me, along with Virtue. When people watch me working they think I am crazy, but it makes me very efficient when I have to move from item to item.
Very personal workflow
what in the world are 'virtue desktops'?
Cmd-tab and Butler
Command-tab for back and forth most of the time, and Command-tab tab tab etc for other opened apps frequently.
Mundane
I use the command-tab-~ combo or simply clicking on a window, mostly. Very occasionally I'll use Path Finder. Whatever is easiest.
DragThing
The best I've used!
quicksilver
i can't seem to vote either. when i got here for the first time, i could see the current results, but no way to vote. hmmm.
CMD, S-Tab-R
I use many methods as well, but I voted for CMD-Tab. Since I spend most of my time in BBEdit and Safari, I will need to save a web page in BBEdit and then switch over to Safari and Refresh the page. I absolutely love the ease and speed of holding down CMD and pressing "S-Tab-R" (save, switch, refresh). I'll often add another Tab to the end of that string to switch back to BBEdit and continue working without needing to reach for the mouse.
App launching?
How about a poll for app launching (Dock, Spotlight, QuickSilver, Butler, LaunchBar, etc)
Many methods...
I would say I click on opened applications in the Dock to switch between apps 90% of the time. But I also use whatever is convenient. If I have windows opened from other applications visible from another application, I'll click on a window to switch to that application. Command-Tab I'll use when my mouse is charging. Hehe.
witch method?
I use:
Command-tab etc.
Most often, when I REALLY need to boost my efficiency flying betweens apps, it's just between two apps at a time...so a simple command-tab seems best (especially since just hitting command-tab once toggles between the two apps I want, rather than repeatedly hitting Tab to scroll along the command-tab switcher).
App Switching
Well, I probably use command-tab the most when I am switching between applications, especially if there is only 1 window per app. I use èxposè a lot to switch between windows and when I have of multiple windows open in multiple apps.
Mouse or trackpad?
I guess there will be differences between people using a mouse or a trackpad. With the trackpad, I find myself switch between the keyboard and the trackpad quite often and rapidly. With a mouse, I try to stay longer in mouse-only or keyboard-only mode, simply because switching takes so much longer.
Cmd-Tab or Cmd-`
I've tried other apps, but I keep coming back to Cmd-Tab (for apps) or Cmd-` (for document windows).
MacOSX fails here
I use command tab but this is where MacOSX sucks bit time.. You command tab to iTues and you have to hit extra keys to get iTunes.. Mail is the same..
Using lots of methods
Hmm, let's see which methods I use:
command-tab vs. Witch
I voted for command-tab.
A different solution
I've scripted my own solution: My 20 most often used programs are available with 1 keypress-combo, which works both for switching and starting them up (when they are not yet running). Once you get this setup up+running, it becomes second nature:
In defense of Expose
I used Exposé rarely but occasionally in the past. About two months ago, I set up Exposé to operate with the cursor. On a Powerbook, I just fling the cursor down to the lower-right corner and get everything minized and then click what I need. While I'm typically a keyboard-centric guy, this works for me. So that makes me cmd-tab about 40% of the time, Exposé 40% and 20% just clicking the edge of the window I see sticking out.
depends...
cmd-tab! unless my hand is on the mouse then its clickin' on the dock all the way
Expose all the way
The poll is not very intuitive -- I'm glad someone posted already to say that the votable poll is on the right-hand side near the bottom of the page, otherwise I would have left in disgust at being unable to vote for Expose.
Exposé w/ Hot Corners mostly
I love this feature. I often have 50 or more windows open. Mainly Safari windows after I open all new RSS Feeds from RSS Menu.app. Using Exposé w/ Hot Corners makes it easy to peruse the topics quickly and easily.
Expose for me
Expose, lower right-hand hot corner. In my opinion there is nothing easier than with the flick of a mouse seeing everything laid out in front of you, then a click and you are in any application you please!
What about Command-`
Witch sounds interesting, but I use Command-` for window switching and Command-Tab for app switching
expose...
I got fed up with expose keyboard shortcuts. i use hot corners so much i try to use them on PCs!
LiteSwitch Universal Beta
If you email mat at Proteron and he will email you a Universal Binary beta of LiteSwitch to try out.
Method missing from poll: Butler and its Apps menu
I have configured Butler to show a menu of currently running applications when I hit Alt-Clover-/.
"varies"
It kinda depends, really. I'll apple-tab between apps when I have my hand off the stylus. I'll click on windows to switch between some things. Less so now that I have a 15" Powerbook instead of a G4 hooked to a 19" monitor - windows get lost under each other a lot. And I'll hit the dock to do things like read new mail. And when I want iTunes, I use a shortcut I made in Quicksilver that brings it up.
Prefer LiteSwitch, but...
I have a new Intel iMac and LiteSwitch won't work. I'm living with Apple's built-in command-tab switching and the Dock until a uni-bin comes out. If Apple would just let me drop a doc on an app's icon when command-tabbing, I would be content.
iKey Rocks
I can't believe iKey is not mentioned by anyone. That plus Applescript rules my Mac world! And, command tab is a close second. Try iKey!
The ABSOLUTE best app switcher ever was...
TASKMENUBAR! This great classic app put an icon of an opened app into the menubar. So if you opened 5 apps, it put the 5 app icons in the menu bar where you could quickly glance at it to see what was opened. With ONE hand, all you had to do was click on an icon in the menubar to get to that app. If you double-clicked on an icon in the menubar, you got that app AND hide all other apps.
liteswitch/dragthing/expose
surprised LiteSwitch polled so low -- it's a big improvement on the built-in cmd-tab; maybe the poll wording made it ambiguous; and of course LiteSwitch is now universal, but wasn't when the poll was launched
liteswitch/dragthing/expose
LiteSwitch probably has a low user base because it isn't free. I have a lot more useful shareware that I paid for that cost less than fifteen bucks.
My Ultimate Solution
I use command+tab for most of my application switching, but I am very fond of mouse gestures and use xGestures heavily. I have tried my hardest to configure a mouse gesture that would involve right clicking then scrolling the scroll wheel while still right clicking. I would like this gesture to bring up the command+tab bezel and scroll through the apps listed, but I cannot get it to work. Controller Mate has allowed me to get the closest, but it still does not behave as it should. If anyone has any suggestions as to how to do this I would love to hear them! |
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