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Windows Microsoft IT Technology

Microsoft's New PowerToys Run Launcher for Windows 10 is Now Available To Download (theverge.com) 46

Posted by msmash from the interesting-updates dept.
Microsoft is releasing a new Spotlight-like launcher app for Windows 10 today. Designed to replace and modernize the existing Win + R shortcut, the new PowerToys Run launcher includes quick search for apps and files across Windows, plugins like a calculator, and the ability to find running processes. From a report: This early version will support basic search tasks that are typically handled by the built-in Windows Start menu search functionality. But there are plans to make this a more powerful launcher that's similar to Alfred on macOS and more functional than Apple's Spotlight search. The current Win + R functionality is basic and used by Windows power users to launch cmd prompts, regedit, powershell instances, and even shortcuts to areas in Windows like the Control Panel. This new PowerToys Run launcher will support all of the same commands that Run does currently in Windows, but Microsoft is collaborating with an open-source community that's contributing to make it far more powerful. Also read: Microsoft Debuts Windows Package Manager for Your Dev Environment.
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Microsoft's New PowerToys Run Launcher for Windows 10 is Now Available To Download More

Microsoft's New PowerToys Run Launcher for Windows 10 is Now Available To Download

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  • They're going to fuck it up (Score:5, Insightful)

    by grasshoppa ( 657393 ) on Tuesday May 19, 2020 @06:29PM (#60080476) Homepage

    Guaranteed they fuck it up. Currently you can win-R, type your command and you're off to the races. Simple, clean, efficient.

    My guess is they'll add mouse clicks necessary to run what you want, maybe make it so the text field isn't highlighted so you have to activate it before you can start typing. Then it'll default to Windows Store apps that require you to login and install.

    Please, MS, for the love of all that's holy, leave it, the fuck, alone.

    • Re:They're going to fuck it up (Score:4, Insightful)

      by PsychoSlashDot ( 207849 ) on Tuesday May 19, 2020 @07:13PM (#60080588)

      Guaranteed they fuck it up.

      Obviously. Currently it does what you ask it to do. They're going to make it so it thinks for you. Which means a} it'll do it wrong and b} it'll take forever to search for all the wrong things.

      • "I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that"

         

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by Luckyo ( 1726890 )

        It will search for all the right things. For microsoft's bottom line.

        Remember, MS is aggressively moving windows 10 from "pay once, use forever" platform for private use to "software as a service or ad supported software".

        Search box makes for a natural channel for ads. See: biggest ad company on the planet.

      • As soon as I read "like the Windows Search bar" I had seen enough. Microsoft have the most incompetent suggestive search. Typing words like "cmd" into it frequently return no results. I mean, come on! Its usually visible in the start menu if you don't type anything, yet 'no results'. WTF!

    • At a glance it seems kinda cool. It doesn't replace Win-R, you trigger it with Alt-Space (I think this is the same as Spotlight on Mac?), so you don't need to worry about Win-R going away.

      I tried to install it (not for this, but for the Keyboard Manager, a new tool as of this release I've been waiting for!) but it has a dependency on .NET Core which requires separate installation - it tries to install it automatically but the UX for this is still very beta and confusing [github.com] so I haven't had time to get it up an

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        The keyboard manager has a lot of potential. I use an app called KbdEdit which is more powerful, it lets you do things like assign symbols to keys. For example I have right-alt-o produce an omega symbol, right-alt-d sends a degree symbol, right-alt-u sends mu, right-alt-p sends Pi...

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by gweihir ( 88907 )

      I expect that as well. MS is the king of making things use 3 clicks (where one would be enough), hiding functions you need all the time and generally making working with their stuff a pain. It is almost like they believe their stuff _should_ be unpleasant to work with.

      Also, still no halfway decent pager in Win10. FVWM had one 27 years ago and it still works the same today.

    • Look forward to it being slow just like all their other replacements have been. I am still angry over the update they did to calc.exe. It used to be calc was just there the moment you hit enter on Win+r, but now it takes a second, then it gets a taskbar item, then its window shows up but blank, then the buttons render. Sure - It still happens faster than I can move my hand to the number pad of the keyboard but its still so much slower than it used to be and it drives me nuts.

      • Well, and it breaks...a lot. My favorite error is that you can't run it as admin, even if you're admin.

        It's a fucking calculator, it's 100k at most, and those retards managed to fuck it up.

  • Reliability (Score:5, Insightful)

    by GigaplexNZ ( 1233886 ) on Tuesday May 19, 2020 @06:45PM (#60080518)
    The main reason I use Win+R is because the start menu search often stops working entirely. I type my command, it shows a blank set of results, even though I know it's there. If they add search to Win+R and it stops working in the same way, it's dead to me.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Rhipf ( 525263 )

      It isn't replacing Win+R it is a new feature. It is started with Alt+Space so if you like Win+R you aren't losing anything.

      • It isn't replacing Win+R it is a new feature. It is started with Alt+Space so if you like Win+R you aren't losing anything.

        Perhaps you missed this part of the summary and the article:

        Designed to replace and modernize the existing Win + R shortcut

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Rhipf ( 525263 )

          It is designed to replace Win-R but it isn't eliminating Win-R. It is analogous to PowerShell. PowerShell is the default terminal now in Windows 10 but you still have access to cmd.

  • Keypirinha (Score:3)

    by tk77 ( 1774336 ) on Tuesday May 19, 2020 @06:47PM (#60080526)

    So, basically like Keypirinha (https://keypirinha.com), but (at least for now) less featured... ?

  • PowerToys Run is really nice. I really missed the Alt+F2 KRunner feature that KDE offered since... when? 20 years ago in KDE 2.x time?
    Too bad that it took them this long, but it is good to see this feature finally implemented.

  • For any version of Windows is a simple program called Everything. https://www.voidtools.com/ [voidtools.com]

    It searches all your drives as fast as you type.

  • Because the best way to fix an OS where settings are spread all around, in wildly different places and with vastly incongruent GUIs, is to add yet another way not to find what you need.

  • I don't come to slashdot to find out about MS's latest downloads. I come to read about how they fucked up again, again, again. I come for the nested fuckups.

  • And yet, no simple editor yet for Start Tiles (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Glasswire ( 302197 ) on Tuesday May 19, 2020 @09:56PM (#60080852) Homepage

    Should be obvious, you right click on the tile and set properties much like a shortcut, including scripts and windows system programs. But no native Windows properties control and no external Power Toy Start Editor, either, alas

  • And as usual when MS comes up with some new bullshit in their OS, the question arises: How do I disable it?

  • As a non-MS nerd (as a term of endearment), I am disappointed by the lack of sensual power toys in this article.
  • I'm on OSX and I don't even like Spotlight that much. I use an app called Chuck. One shortcut and it ONLY searches apps and hitting return launches.

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