takeoff

After seeing this article about the Takeoff Launcher, I decided to take a look at it in PCLinuxOS. It was easy to install in PCLOS via Synaptic.

I think it's okay but it can take a few more clicks to get to an application, like with the GNOME Shell and Unity set-ups. But also like those, you can type in a word to find stuff quickly. For example, if I open the Takeoff Launcher and type word, it shows Dictionary and OpenOffice Writer. If I type editor, I see KWrite and a few other apps. The word screen brings up about a dozen apps.

And, of course, if you start typing in the name of an app, the first three letters of the word will bring up the icon; start typing in the name of a recently opened document, and there it is.

So, that's cool, there are pros and cons.

I generally prefer to use classical-styled menus, but the Takeoff Launcher looks kinda useful, like the set-ups in Unity or GNOME Shell. The ones I really don't care for are KDE's "Application Launcher" (aka "Kickoff" style?) (I use "Classic" style instead) and Linux Mint's MintMenu or whatever they're calling it.

The Takeoff Launcher has that smartphone-type interface like what's in Unity and GNOME Shell. Some people like it, some don't. This screenshot, from PCLOS, shows it with "All Applications" selected. Too much stuff spread all over the desktop. 

But you don't have to dig through sub-menus like with a classic set-up.

On my systems where I have GNOME Shell or Unity, I've added and/or turned on classic-style menus, but I don't use them at all. So I can imagine that I might use Takeoff in PCLOS's KDE4 more than the "Classic" main menu from the panel. Can't see it taking the place of my desktop right-click menu, though.