Portable Executor 1.0.11 Build 0

Overview

Windows run is a crucial feature for many users, and a big percentage of them would love a new and improved version of it. This isn’t happening though and that’s why Executor was created. It includes a wide variety of features that prove to be really helpful to users, such as support for dragging & dropping items (files or folders) to add them as keywords, auto-completion of keywords, URL and hotkey support, as well as a greatly customizable interface.

Installation

The installation procedure is easy and anyone can complete it without problems, regardless of experience. No additional 3^rd party software are installed (e.g. toolbars) and our virus scans report that Executor is clean from viruses, spyware and other types of malware.

There’s full support for Windows 2000, 2003, XP, Vista and 7 operating systems, but in the product’s website it is stated that it has limited functionality under Windows 95, 98 and any 64-bit system.

Interface

A quick-start configuration wizard will open when you launch the program for the first time. It will help you make some basic settings, like pick skin, choose usage and search type, select the size of each row item in the list and a few others.

While there are quite a few skins to choose from, the main one is probably the most functional. It is very modern and intuitive, consisting of two parts: the search box, where you type the keyword of the item you want to find, and the keyword box, where you can see a list of found items. In the second box you can also see items you executed in the past.

Pros

This app launcher has so many features that it’s not easy to list them all. However, its most important features will leave you hanging. First of all, you can assign keywords for any item you wish to add in the program’s list, for quicker access. All you have to do afterwards is enter the keyword and the item will be displayed in the keyword box in real-time, as you type. The item doesn’t have to be an executable; it can be any type of file. In fact, you can even assign URLs as if they were executables and visit them every time you type the respective keyword. An auto-completion feature has been implemented as well so that you don’t have to type the whole keyword but only a part of it.

There are many preset keywords that can execute programs with specific functions. For instance, typing “find [something]” will use Windows Search to find the “something” you searched for, whilst typing “wiki [something]” will open Wikipedia’s website and search for what you typed.

Five skins are included in the setup package, but you can download even more from the product’s website. All of them are customizable and you can change colors, fonts, dimensions, transparency and other elements.

Hotkeys are assigned for every function of the program and you can assign your own hotkeys for keywords as well.

Cons

Executor is very lightweight, efficient, attractive, stable and has so many features, but it needs just a little bit of time in order to get familiar with it.

Alternatives

Launchy (free) is a program for Windows, Linux and Mac users that behind it lies the same idea as Executor. It is an app launcher that indexes your files and can help you execute them fast, although it is not as advanced as Executor. Another alternative is SlickRun (free), but unlike the other two applications, this one is a command-line utility.

Conclusion

Highly recommended program. It is possibly the best app launcher available, so don’t make the mistake to overlook it.