Last Updated on February 24, 2023
Application launchers play an integral part in making the Linux desktop a more productive environment to work and play. They represent small utilities which offers the desktop user a convenient access point for application software and can make a real boost to users’ efficiency.
An application launcher helps to reduce start up times for applications by indexing shortcuts in the menu. Furthermore, this type of software allows users to search for documents and other files quicker by indexing different file formats. This makes them useful for launching almost anything on a computer including multimedia files, games, and the internet. Application launchers often support plug-ins, adding to their versatility.
Some people regard desktop search tools as application launchers. We have not included any desktop search tools here, as our favorite have already been covered in the 6 of the Best Free Linux Desktop Search Engines article.
GNOME Shell is billed as the defining technology of the GNOME 3 desktop user experience. It offers core interface functions like switching to windows and launching applications. Essentially, GNOME Shell could make application launchers largely unnecessary on the GNOME desktop. However, it is not scheduled for a stable release until September 2010. In any event, it is pretty certain that application launchers will continue to play an important role for other desktops.
To provide an insight into the quality of software that is available, we have compiled a list of 6 high quality Linux application launchers. Hopefully, there will be something of interest for anyone who wants to improve their productivity.
Now, let’s explore the 6 application launchers at hand. For each title we have compiled its own portal page, providing a screenshot of the software in action, a full description with an in-depth analysis of its features, together with links to relevant resources and reviews.
| Application Launchers | |
|---|---|
| GNOME Do | Specify actions to perform on search results |
| Kupfer | Fast and lightweight desktop summoner/launcher |
| Launchy | Indexes shortcuts and files |
| Avant Window Navigator | Indexes shortcuts and files |
| Katapult | Quickly launch applications or open files |
| Bashrun | X11 application launcher based on bash |
 Read our complete collection of recommended free and open source software. Our curated compilation covers all categories of software. The software collection forms part of our series of informative articles for Linux enthusiasts. There are hundreds of in-depth reviews, open source alternatives to proprietary software from large corporations like Google, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, and Autodesk. There are also fun things to try, hardware, free programming books and tutorials, and much more. |