At first glance, Quicksilver is a launcher.

Quicksilver allows you to navigate to what you need quickly and easily, while keeping your hands on the keyboard. For example, if you want to launch an application hidden in the depths of your file system, simply activate Quicksilver with a keystroke, type a few letters of the application's name, then hit Return or Enter to launch it.

When you don't need Quicksilver, it keeps out of your way, preserving precious screen real estate, and yet you can summon it instantly with a key stroke - just like Mercury the winged messenger.

Quicksilver indexes and parses selected parts of the contents of your hard drive in the Catalog, so that it locates and displays the items matching your search really quickly.

If you are a programmer or an uber-geek, you will be glad to know that you can extend and customise Quicksilver until it does exactly what you want it to. The modular structure also means that the application will never be bloated: You only load the modules that you find useful.

If you hate reading manuals, make sure that you read the Quickstart Guide. That should be sufficient information to get you up and running, and it will also give you pointers to the plethora of other features and customization options that you might be missing.

Here are some key features of "Quicksilver":

Simple:
· Once set up, Quicksilver hides in the background, waiting. Tap a simple hotkey, and Quicksilver's minimal interface pops up. From here, your options are limitless.

Intelligent:
· Quicksilver learns what you want, when you want it. Quicksilver's intelligence makes searches, actions and commands effortless.

Adaptable:
· Quicksilver's greatest forte is its adaptability through plugins. With plugins installed, you can do anything from controlling itunes, to calling a contact on Skype, to resizing an image for emailing. This is all done directly from Quicksilver's simple, minimal interface.

Lean:
· Despite Quicksilver's power, its plugin architecture means you only need install the plugins right for you. This keeps Quicksilver fresh and lean. Quicksilver is faster than spotlight and many other app launchers around today.

What's New in This Release: [ read full changelog ]

· FIX: Prevent all plug-ins from being deleted on launch
· FIX: Prevent some interfaces from showing `` as the command
· FIX: The plug-in download progress bar works
· FIX: Accented characters no longer wipe out the search string (Issue #539)
· FIX: Latest Download proxy object works with a symlinked Downloads folder (Issue #596, #616)
· FIX: Correctly display dynamically generated details for objects and actions (Issue #591)
· FIX: Correctly notify the user when there's no internet connection (Issue #640)
· FIX: Prevent a crash when trying to run an AppleScript that was moved or deleted
· FIX: Better handling of Dock icon preferences and crash protection (Issue #587)
· CHANGE: If the name and details are identical, don't show both
· CHANGE: Simplified the wording in the Setup Assistant
· CHANGE: Updated QSDroplet icon to reflect the new style