Noah Coad

For max GUI productivity, my favorite apps are a command launcher, global hotkeys, GUI automation, and clipboard ring tools.  (see full list of tools here)  I’ve got these optimized for Windows, but am trying to move to Mac OSX or Ubuntu and haven’t been able to find quite the equivalent there.  This post is for sharing what I’ve found works well on Windows, but is also a call for help to my dear Mac OSX and Ubuntu readers…   What do you use on Mac OSX or Ubuntu for these?  I’d really like to try moving over to Mac OSX or Ubuntu, but am a keyboard fiend and haven’t found the level of productity over there yet.

Windows

• AutoHotkey, global hotkeys and GUI automation
  Great script based automation tool!  Super easy to define global hotkeys and automate windows.  I’ve got >100 pesky ‘are you sure?’ model dialogs automated so they disappear almost as fast as they appear.  Also just over 50 custom global hotkeys.
• SlickRun, command launcher
  Extremely simple!  Just define your own ‘magic words’ commands which can take a parameter to launch websites or open files/folders.  Like “sebay” to open “http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?satitle=$W$” where $W$ is what you type after, like “sebay altair”.
• ClipX, clipboard ring
  Again, so simple.  Just hit Ctrl+Shift+V to pop up a menu of previous items in the clipboard.  Keeps the list in ‘most recently used’ order with the previous item at the top.

Mac OSX

• Alfred, command launcher (free) and global hotkeys ($15 powerpack)
  Nice UI, but real complex!  Wish there was something as simple as SlickRun, just create your own commands.  Also the global hotkeys cost, are there any good free alternatives?
• Gui Automation?
  Haven’t found a great GUI Automation option yet.  Yes there is Automator and AppleScript, but in playing around with these they seem to either have complex UI dialogs to navigate or are limited to the access points provided by apps (like iTunes).  How do you just like detect when a certain app’s modal dialog appears (like “Are you sure you want to exit?”) and click a specific button, preferably via code?
• Clipboard Ring?
  The options I’ve seen so far appear overly complex.  New GUIs to click on, large UI, etc.  Where’s just a dirt simple one hotkey (like cmd+shift+V) menu popup like ClipX?

Ubuntu

- No idea!!  Please help.  What fulfills these categories in Linux GUIs?

Other Stuff

There are tons of other little differences between the OS’s that I’m comfortable with on Windows, but feel I can make the transition okay with.  Like I love command prompts (Take Command rocks on Window!) and they’re super great in unix shells.  Scripting with PowerShell is great on Windows, but there’s Mono, ruby, python, etc in unix.  Then there’s the other keyboard stuff that for the most part just takes getting used to, like navigating Finder with keyboard, or click-only dialogs being a pain.  It still feels like Windows is more navigable via keyboard, like having a key for the apps context menu, hotkeys for sizing windows, all dialogs are keyboard navigable/scriptable, etc.  Any other recommendations in being productive or workflow automation apps in Mac or Ubuntu GUIs would be appreciated.  thanks