Macs and Windows PCs come with a number of keyboard shortcuts and functions that are quite similar.
For Mac, we hit Command+Q to quit an app. Or, Command+P to print a document. Command+C copies, Command+X cuts, and Command+V pastes. New Mac users are quite at home with Command + Tab to switch between apps. Can such a basic and common keyboard combination be improved?
Improving On Perfection
Few Mac keyboard combinations are as simple and useful as Command+Tab. Up pops the switcher which displays the large icons of open applications. Either click the icon of the app you want to switch to, or use the arrow key.
Either way, it’s a quick, easy, painless, and utterly simple way to switch from one app to another.
It just can’t be possible to improve on Command+Tab, right? Think again. And think different. Someone actually came up with a Mac app that is billed as a replacement for Command+Tab.
Switché is a simple, elegant Mac app that only works on Macs running Snow Leopard but you’ll be impressed with what Command+Tab can really do. It’s an old dog that learns new tricks.
Mac OS X’s Command+Tab function displays app icons in the reverse order they’re used. So, if you’re using Safari and you hit Command+Tab, Safari is the first app icon, whichever app you used last is the next app icon, and so on.
Switché does the basics and a whole lot more.
Switch between apps, ordered by the last one used.
Or, switch between app windows, ordered by the last one used. Or, switch between the windows of the frontmost app, ordered by the last one used. See? Old dog. New tricks.
Then, Switché gets serious about expanding functional nuances to become highly productive features. You can skip apps with no open windows, zoom windows using Exposé, close specific windows by simply pressing the W key, or quit specific applications by pressing the Q key.
The only real difficulty in using Switché in the beginning is remembering that there’s much more to Command+Tab and you can control the switch many different ways. This isn’t your father’s app switcher. You already know how to use that one. Switché is very effective, simple to use, and inexpensive.
About Ron McElfresh
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