Alfred (for Mac)

Alfred (for Mac) (free, power pack upgrade available for ?15GBP) sat installed but hardly used on my Mac at home for nearly two months before I figured out why I would want to use it. But one day I launched it and I awoke to its possibilities. Now, Alfred is indispensible for increasing productivity and reducing mouse-related repetitive motions. Alfred works so simply and cleanly that it's possible to install it on a whim (seeing as it doesn't cost a dime), and never take the five minutes to figure out what it can do for you. Sure, you might understand how it works and what it does in an instant, but until you experience an awakening about how it can increase your productivity and change the way you interact with your computer, Alfred could largely hang around, unused and overlooked.

The above paragraph may sound a tad overzealous for what is a very simple and straightforward application, but it's meant to drive home a point. Alfred only becomes worthwhile when you figure out what your use case for it is. You can deploy Alfred for a number of different purposes, but until you find the few that speak to your daily work and typical computing patterns, you probably won't think much of Alfred. The program replicates a lot of functionality that's already available to Mac users in Spotlight, the built-in tool (since OS 10.4) for searching your computer for applications and files. But Alfred works a little differently, is faster, and for many other reasons is a preferable tool for many users.

Alfred for Mac System Requirements
Alfred for Mac version 1.0 is compatible with Intel Macs running OS X 10.6 and higher. The developers, Running with Crayons, report optimal results with Lion (10.7). A download is available for Leopard (OS X 10.5) for both Intel and Power PC Macs. See Alfred's requirements page for further details.

Alfred Hotkey
Alfred's primary purpose is to enable simple yet powerful keyboard shortcuts for searching your computer and launching application and files. You can keep the default hotkey to toggle to Alfred, or set your own. I used option + space bar.

The hotkey will pull Alfred's search bar?a relatively small and unobtrusive box on the screen, with legibly large font for characters?which you then use to search your computer for applications or files, or search online. Type any characters in the field and Alfred will match them to programs and files that contain that combination of letters. Press enter or the down arrow key or the keyboard shortcut shown at the right of the item you want (see the slideshowfor an image), and Alfred launches the application or file.

Type "Tw," and Alfred might suggest launching Twitter in a Web browser. It will also suggest any files, including program applications, on your computer that use the letters, such as the "iTwin installer" or an entry in your address book for "Mark Twain." Alfred can also track your patterns and learn from your behavior. After using Alfred only a handful of times, it learned that when I type "ch," I'm probably looking to launch Google Chrome because that's the most common selection I've made in the past?even if a file labeled "chicken-recipe" is a closer match, alphabetically speaking.

Notice that with Alfred, you can do everything I just described without taking your hands off the keyboard. If you've ever suffered wrist and thumb strain, or other symptoms of repetitive motion injuries caused by frequent mouse usage, you will immediately "get" Alfred. If not, keep reading, as I'll try to describe some other use cases in this review.

Alfred Looks, Finds, and Executes
Beyond being a quicklaunch and computer search tool, Alfred has other uses that can increase productivity, too.

Alfred enables hotkeys for showing Preferences, switching to Finder or Spotlight to complete the search, and switching to Google to search. System functions work, too: empty trash, log out, put Mac in sleep mode, restart, shut down, turn on the screensaver, and more. Writers will appreciate Alfred's ability to suggest the correct spelling of words or pull up definitions, while others might like the fact that Alfred can work as a calculator, too.

Within the app, you can enable and customize some of these extra functions through the settings, but I found this official Alfred "cheat sheet" even more helpful for learning commands and figuring out what the app can do.

Smoother Searching, Less Stress
Because it's fast, not at all intrusive, free, reduces mouse use, and can increase your productivity, Alfred for Mac easily wins over plenty of users, myself included. If you like the app and can't get enough of it, an optional powerpack (?15GBP, direct) can add even more functionality. Certainly, some users will see Alfred as unnecessary because it replicates a lot of Spotlight's capabilities, while the rest of us enjoy a clean little app that works wonderfully.

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