The mouse and other pointing devices are great innovations for personal computing. Excessive use, however, can really slow you down. Since I’m not a fan of deceleration, I’ve been loving Quicksilver lately. Other Quicksilver users I’ve talked to share the same feeling. In addition to giving you quick, keyboard access to applications and files, it can do more advanced actions like providing speedy access to contacts in your address book. Many of these advanced actions are provided through a growing library of plugins. Applescripts can also be run with the tap of a couple keys. This makes Quicksilver exceedingly flexible. As a simple example, I made this basic Applescript that launches my most used applications in one go.

Unfortunately, Windows users are out of luck, Quicksilver is Mac only. But, there are alternatives. Launchy is quite popular and Lifehacker points to a promising alternative called Skylight. I don’t have any first hand experience with either of these Windows applications, but if they share at least some of Quicksilver’s features, I recommend trying them out.