There are so many different ways to organize and launch programs on Windows. The most used and default system is, of course, from the icons on the desktop, from the Windows Start menu and from the taskbar at the bottom.
Fans of Mac and Apple systems, however, may prefer different ways to use Windows with an arrangement of program icons as if they were applications for the iPhone.
On the new Mac OS system you can use the Launchpad which allows you to organize programs as if they were applications, without having to search for them in folders.
The same thing is possible now also on Windows with a program identical to the Macbook Launchpad called WinLaunch .
WinLaunch is an application launcher for Windows XP, Vista, Windows 8 and 7, which perfectly imitates the Mac's Launchpad .
Winlaunch can be downloaded for free on the DeviantArt website where the independent project is hosted, by clicking the Download button at the top right.
After downloading it, you need to open the zip file and extract the folder suitable for your operating system, depending on whether it is x86 (32bit) or 64 bit.
Winlaunch does not require installation and can be immediately run on the computer (therefore it also becomes a portable launcher for USB sticks).
There are no notifications on the successful execution of the program but just press the Shift-Tab key combination to open the Launchpad on Windows .
At first startup, it recommends pressing the F key to make the Launcher smaller and add programs .
Just drag the icons with the mouse into the box very similar, graphically, to that of an iPad or iPhone.
If one icon is superimposed on another, you can create a group of applications or a folder, which can be given a custom name.
If you add many icons to fill all the space, Winlaunch creates a new page (as always happens on an iPad) where you can add more.
You can scroll through the various pages with the mouse, moving it as you would with your finger on an iPhone.
Whenever you want to launch a program from the LaunchPad, just press Shift-Tab and click on the desired icon.
By clicking on the + button at the bottom left, there are two buttons: one for settings, the other for renaming folders and applications.
To rename an application, you have to press on Rename and then on the icon.
Pressing on Settings you access the settings that allow you to configure and change some things.
Activating the " Tablet Mode ", when you hold down the mouse over an application, instead of moving the icon, you scroll the screen horizontally.
In Activation you can change the key combination to start the Launchpad and you can also activate the option to make it appear when you move the mouse to a corner of the screen.
If you like, it is from the Activation menu that you can set Winlaunch to start automatically with Windows to use it always.
The Synaptics menu allows you to activate the controls from the mouse pad on laptops that support Synaptics drivers, for scrolling with two or three fingers.
In the Design menu you can change the size of the icons and text and also the colors .
There are some ready-made themes to choose from, and you can even upload a photo to the background of the program.
Although the program is still in beta, Winlaunch already works very well and has many configuration options to customize the Windows program launcher.
The only sides denied are: the requirement to have .Net Framework 4 installed on the computer is that it is a bit heavy on RAM occupying about 40 MB.
How it works, however, deserves a try and, on the best performing PCs, it could really become the preferred way to launch programs on Windows.
If WinLaunch doesn't work, another similar program that brings the Launchpad to Windows is XLaunchpad which definitely works on Windows 7, Vista and even on XP.
Here, too, you can add icons for launching Windows applications and customize their appearance.
To invoke the Launchpad, the default key is F12.
In other articles we have seen other ways to launch programs on Windows, among which, the best and my favorites are certainly the dock bars like RocketDock and StarDock Fences mentioned in the post on how to improve the graphics of Windows, desktop and windows.
For Apple fans, I still remember the iPadian program that brings the iPad interface to Windows .
