WinLaunch: Download Mac OS X Lion “Launchpad” for Windows Vista and 7

We all know about “Launchpad” which is a new application launcher introduced in Apple’s Mac OS X Lion. It provides iOS look-like home screen view in Mac OS X Lion.

We have shared a similar application launcher for Windows in past which is called “JumpPad“.

Today we are going to share a new application launcher for Windows which looks very close to Mac OS X Lion’s “Launchpad”.

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WinLaunch” is a free and portable utility for Windows Vista and Windows 7 which provides Mac OS X Lion look-like Launchpad in Windows.

When you launch WinLaunch, it starts as minimized and you can bring it to screen using “Shift+Tab” keyboard shortcut. It shows the main screen of this new app launcher which looks like following:

WinLaunch.png

To add items to this launcher, you need to press “F” key and then simply drag-n-drop the desired files/folders to its window. You can swipe between pages with a simple drag of your right mouse button. To launch a shortcut, you just need to single-click on it.

This app launcher also comes with a secret mode which is called “Jiggle mode“. You can access this hidden mode by holding the mouse down on an item. In Jiggle mode, you can move or delete items and create new folders.

You can also create a folder by simply drag an item on top of another one. You can repeat this process to create another one.

To move an item out of a folder, drag it up or down until the folder closes. To close a folder, you can click outside of it.

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Keyboard Controls List:

  • ESC -> Exit WinLaunch
  • F -> Toggle full screen / window mode
  • Left/Right -> Switch between pages
  • F3 -> Toggle Jiggle mode
  • Space -> End Jiggle mode

If you want to change the startup hotkey to something else, you can change it using WinLaunch Settings.

One more thing! If WinLaunch hangs and you cannot access it, you can use the secret panic hotkey “CTRL+WIN+ALT+F12” to bring it up in window mode and edit your settings.

You can download WInLaunch using following link:

Download WinLaunch

You’ll need to install Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0 to use it.

Thanks to our reader “minimum” for sharing it…

Published in: Software, Windows 7, Windows Vista

About the author: Vishal Gupta (also known as VG) has been awarded with Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) award. He holds Masters degree in Computer Applications (MCA). He has written several tech articles for popular newspapers and magazines and has also appeared in tech shows on various TV channels.

Comments

NOTE: Older comments have been removed to reduce database overhead.

  1. @Jasonx
    But it’s only for simplified chinese language.
    How can I change it to english???

  2. Awesome, smart programming c0rrupted. Could you maybe add smart naming of folders just like it is on the iOS? might be a little bit to ask thinking about it but would be cool.

  3. thanks 🙂
    I’ll see what i can come up with

    @Jasonx
    are there any videos of 360 desktop? (couldn’t find any)

  4. Realy the stuff I’m looking for! Great! But, I’m not able to open Documents (PDFs, JPGs or so on) by Double-Click. The Symbols just move a little bit and that’s it. Is anybody out there who can help? Thank You very much!

    Greatings
    AnDa

  5. I have been using this for a month now. As much as i like it, i m worried about the fact it consumes the maximum resources of my PC even when it is idle. Also, it seems that MrC0rrupted has given up plans of developing further.
    In this scenario, i am inclined to use Xlaunchpad (it doesnt have two finger swipe 🙁 Rest is almost same )

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