Butler for Mac4.4.4

With the recent release of Butler v4.4 I realized I hadn't paid for a single update in over TWELVE YEARS and so happily went and paid for it again. Butler has worked reliably for that entire time and made profound improvements to my productivity. It works as: • a very nice launcher, both by hot-key and app-search. • a “Typinator”-like text expansion tool (I have dozens of shortcuts reliably creating typo-free blocks of code) • an Applescript launcher (and through that: shell script launcher) for dozens of scripts I’ve written to automate my workflow. • a clipboard-history manager allowing me to copy multiple sections from one document, then paste them into another without having to switch back and forth multiple times. ALL that for such a reasonable price is a bargain. Check it out and you’ll probably buy it today. (Maybe buy it AGAIN today! :-) ) FEATURE SUGGESTIONS: • Appending copy-to-clipboard with a configurable “marker” between each copied block. (I wrote one in AppleScript within butler but I bet others would like the feature too!) • If the Docklet could support a “shelf” feature so one could drag-and-drop files/folders to it, which could then later be dragged off it to a new location.

Over the last decade or more, I've often looked around for something else that may improve upon Butler, but still, even now with almost zero new features for years, I haven't found anything that suits my workflow better than Butler. It still works well, gets occasional compatibility/bug-fix updates, and IMO only really needs dark mode and a UI modernisation to make it perfect. With Rob Griffiths handling customer services now all the ancient company issues are gone. I always get really fast and helpful replies to any queries I have. The people here with long memories should really take another look as they're denying themselves some very useful utilities.

Best Helper ever!

Wish it had dark theme, but at least it's now up to 64 bit. It's a great program, but like many reviewers here, I'm not keen on the company.

Every few years I check in to see if Butler v.5 has been released. Alas, we are now 9-10 years since the developer said this:

"Butler 5 pre-sale: Support Butler by purchasing Butler 4 now, and you'll receive a free copy of Butler 5 when it ships!"

And the developer has never come clean about this, just quietly removed references to Butler 5 from their web site. Vaporware.

I use Alfred instead. And I refuse to use any of Many Tricks' apps because they are a dishonest company.

Doesn't work in 10.12 Sierra

New version fixes the 10.9.5 bug. Many thanks for the the super-fast update.

Butler 4.1.21 crashes on Mac OS 10.9.5. I've never had a single problem with Butler until updating today from 4.1.20 to 4.1.21.

Butler does a good job.

Even without functional updates, Butler is still one of my all time favourite and most useful OSX utilities I use and depend on every day on multiple Macs. Joining Default Folder, SuperDuper and the much missed FinderPop on my must have installed list. A Mac without these feels rather slow, limited and awkward to use. On 10.11.3 and all previous versions - for me - Butler is extremely stable. I do find that on 10.11.# some abbreviation triggers (which I use a lot more than hot keys) get lost or overridden every once in a while and need manually readding but that is the only minor issue. Using almost every feature of Butler with hundreds of custom scripts, web searches, keystrokes, folders, sites, etc. I find it is the only tool that can be configured to do everything I ask of it. Alfred, Quicksilver & LaunchBar have snazzier interfaces but they can't match Butler for real power and functionality. I'd still like to see version 5 add even morel features (I've suggested a few over the years - even before v5 was mentioned) but as long as it remains compatible with the latests OSX I'll be satisfied. Please please do give Butler some 2016 love Many Tricks!

I can't even count how many times it crashed during 10-minute test run under OSX 10.11.2. Sad...

So sad that this wonderful app has been abandoned...not so much as one functionality update in YEARS!!!

Over the years I have used this little every day. Its been extremely useful and easy to use. Whenever I update my Mac OS X this is one of the few apps I always keep.

What a useful little app. Using it for many, many years. Can't even think of having to do without it.

Has Peter forgotten that a non-App Store compliant version of Butler is a viable option?

The developer's site states version 4.1.16 requires 10.7. The last version for 10.6 Snow Leopard is 4.1.15.

Great app and very useful. Use this daily without any problems. If I could point out something negative it would be the price. It is a bit overpriced imo. About $10 would be more correct. I am pretty sales will go up.

Butler is like an old and dear friend with well-earned wrinkles. Nothing else better IMHO. Still, with this kind of good karma, maybe the developer can dream up a few surprises for v5. Thanks for this update. I am happy to see it is not following in the path of Quickeys, another dear friend that has sadly passed away.

Version 5 is still vaporware after all these years. What is it, six years since it was announced? Does anyone else find it disingenuous of the developers to continue to say this: "Butler 5 pre-sale: Support Butler by purchasing Butler 4 now, and you'll receive a free copy of Butler 5 when it ships!" How about an honest update on when Butler 5 is coming out guys?

LaunchBar is my quick launcher of choice (has been for over ten years), but Butler has proven to be a worthy companion. I don't use the abbreviation or search features at all, but there are a number of other features I find really valuable (which no other app seems to provide). Here are a few of the things I use it for: - I've set up hotkeys (F1-F6) that open pop-up menus in the Finder, letting me quickly get to a specific file or folder. If I hold command and hit the same key, it opens the folder directly instead of the pop-up menu. - Shortcuts for rating the current song in iTunes. Shift + [numpad 0-5]. Butler is one of the only apps that can actually distinguish between the regular number keys and the number pad. Obviously shift + regular number wouldn't work, as I'd lose access to a bunch of symbols. - Other iTunes hotkeys: play/pause, next track, previous track. I used to have these in the menubar as well (I think that was even the original reason I started using Butler), but I have a menubar doodad problem, so I don't have space for those anymore. - Hotkeys for menus in apps where custom shortcuts often don't work. There are a number of situations where custom hotkeys set up in System Preferences → Keyboard Shortcuts don't work until the menu has been opened at least once. Needless to say, this is an unacceptable hassle. What I do now is set up the hotkey I want in Butler, and just have Butler type the default hotkey for me. Works every time. The other thing this works well for is menu commands whose name changes. For example, instead of setting up two identical shortcuts for iTunes' "Switch to MiniPlayer" and "Switch from MiniPlayer" commands in System Preferences, I can just set up *one* hotkey in Butler, and don't even have to bother typing the command name at all. Also has the advantage of leaving the original shortcuts intact, which is helpful if someone else is using your Mac. Finally, because you can specify multiple apps for a hotkey, you can set up shortcuts that work in multiple apps. I've got a "Toggle Web Inspector" hotkey that types cmd-shift-i in Safari, WebKit, Chrome, and Firefox, and it does the right thing in all of them. -- Anyway, my point is that Butler does a lot of things really well, and if you explore its features, you can probably find a bunch of uses for it, even if you aren't using it as a quick search/launcher.

For me, the best launcher and hot key manager. Couldn't live without. I has everything I can think of.

Another version of iTunes (11), and of course the return of Butler's spinning beachball when you quit iTunes. I love Butler - but I don't need to use it to control iTunes. Is there a way to set a Butler Preference so that Butler doesn't depend on reading the iTunes library all the time? I just want to be able to launch my apps using hotkeys. Thanks!

Without Butler I would find my mac to be crippled and painfully difficult to use. Thank you.

"Worked around an issue with inter-application communication on OS X 10.8.2 Mountain Lion." Thank you! Butler 4.1.13 became unusable whenever iTunes was running, as a result of the 10.8.2 update. So far this new version seems to have solved the problem.

Butler 4.1.13 crashes on launch under Mac OS X 10.8.1 on my MBP Core 2 Duo. Butler 4.1.11 seems fine (still available "for Mac OS X 10.5 and/or PowerPC Macs" on the developer's site).

An 8 year user's offset of MadEye29's inappropriate star review. Butler offers a wonderful potpourri of useful functionality that is second to that of no other app I've ever run across; when I sit in front of a Mac other than my own I'm practically helpless without it.

I donated $20 for Butler back in 2007. How long have we been waiting for version 5? Vaporware! But worse is Rob's condescending attitude to the customers. We can see it here, but it's even worse in emails directly from him. And, as we all know, there are several better alternatives to Butler out there.

i'm not a big fan of fuzz typing/searching tools like quicksilver, launchbar or alfred despite they're excellent, well crafted apps. i don't even use that abbreviation feature in butler, i prefer its "controlled" menus that only show what i put there and not other fuzzy approximate results/folders/apps. i just prefer a tidy contextual menu organization, browsable with the cursor keys, instead of typing my way through, what can i do? butler also has a copy/move feature but you have to drag an item to a menu. after testing the mail act-on plugin, i think it would fit butler's way of doing things very nicely: a keyboard driven, clutter-less 'act-on' for system files with preset target 'folders/apps' for easy 'archiving/opening with' operations. i love butler and sometimes i talk to myself.

Wouldn't launch on 10.5.8. Price is ridiculous!

I'm using Butler 4.1.6 for one thing: its system-wide bookmarks menu. Unfortunately it is impossible to add new bookmarks to Butler from within Firefox - this feature is only supported in Safari. I'm waiting since a long time that this features finally works in Firefox too. Until then only 3 stars for this application - sorry.

In view of "Many Tricks (developer) replied on 08 Jun 2010: Butler 5 isn't due out until Decemberish, [....]," Rob, don't you find this update sans update a bit embarrassing?

Like many here, I like Butler, but find it lacking in many ways, and when I've tried it over the years I have never liked it enough to keep it installed over a few days. I will be happy to evaluate version 5 (if it ever materializes) and make a decision whether to use it (and pay for it) or not. But I'm not encouraged very much by a developer who states the new version will be available "Decemberish" when it's already midway through Februaryish" and it's still not here. I'm retired from the software industry and I fully support what Many Tricks Software is trying to overcome by making their products shareware, and I have paid for every software product that's on my computers. That said...the problem "most" developers have is making a product "they" want instead of listening to what their customers and potential customers want to see in that product. I hope Many Tricks Software listens and makes version 5 a more useful product...when/if it ever releases.

I have been using Macs since 1989 and, though not very technically minded, I am generally pretty competent at experimenting with new software even without prior recourse to the manual. That said, I find Butler utterly baffling. It looks as though it could perform several tasks that I would find useful and it does provide instructions for its use. Unfortunately I find these instructions entirely opaque. I have encountered much less complex software accompanied by clear step-by-step descriptions so that even the most technically challenged could put the application through its paces. It is a pity to see what seems to be a potentially powerful tool dragged down by very poor 'how to' information.

Butler is slow and hard to learn. It does its job, but it is sooo hard to understand, how to tell Butler what is its job... I like easy-to-use apps. Launchbar is really faster than Butler, but it is too complicate and it slows down my workflow. I'd prefer something simplier as NuKit or LB.

I must agree to JAZZYGUY. I was using Butler for years until I realized there are much better performing alternatives. Yes: Butler is slow. It takes far too long to cache and to display items (me running a MacBook 2.26 GHz with Snow Leo). After reading reviews and checking out software I am today totally happy with LaunchBar. It reacts immediately, is ultra-fast and does all I need. Before you stick with Butler check out LaunchBar!

Have a look here: http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20040423141815884 for a good basic introduction to Butler configuration.

I tried it and I really don't like it. It takes too long to cache and it takes too long to display. I have tried them all and nothing compares with Spotlight's ability to immediately launch apps unless it is LaunchBar. As far as the other info it displays that can be interesting but it is just not worth the wait for this app to launch and stabilize. I'm sure that others prefer it so to each his own. It is just not my cup of tea.

I've been using Butler for a while and tempted to pay the $20 even though I am on a pension. What would entice me to pay up now would be if the Dev let us know now why it would be in our best interests to have Butler 5 by giving us a sample of a benefit or two. I am sounding scungy I know, but what is the incentive to pay now when we have no idea whether Butler 5 is worth getting? Another angle could be to drop the price to $10 for Butler 4 and get the upgrade to 5 for $5 or drop it to $15 and have a free upgrade? At least making it cheaper now, it would probably have greater appeal and provide more funds to improve Butler 5 even more. Just food for thought.

There is a certain self centred demanding rudeness to some posters's responses here that I find quite off putting. You go do the work. You make the decisions about how that work is to be released to the public. Asking for a donation is perfectly valid. Unfortunately it does bring out the worst in some people. That meanness seems to get twisted into some high principled morality in their own (small) minds.

"Donationware" = Free. It's just semantics.

Are you kidding us? Yesterday this tool was free, today it costs twenty dollars and the only difference is three bug fixes?!? You have every right to charge for a useful toll as this one, but when your prize goes up twenty dollars, one would at least expect some enhanced functionality. Very, very, very disappointed.

Very useful tool. Except a bit pricey imo

This is the first time I ever have been thankful for small bugs in a software-because Many Tricks are issueing updates this frequently they are fortifying in my mind the impression that they are very actively working on Butler And I didn't even know that I could change the order (and delete) pasteboard entries. Makes Butler even better for me, and this when I thought it couldn't be improved. Thanks @ManyTricks! Cheers, Tom in Germany

Cuteness is back.. lol I used to love this thing.. I will gladly pay for it, I used it a lot before it disappeared ! I also installed it on my mom's Mac way back and it simplifies her navigation a lot. Sweet.

I use it everyday since... I can't even remember, as it seems to me Butler was always a part of OSX. There are some utilities I rely on, but I really, really couldn't live without Butler. As it is said on the developer website: "Due to it's unique variety of triggers and tasks, Butler is more flexible than any other productivity tool you've seen before. That's why we call it the original many tricks pony. So don't worry if you don't have a use for all of its features right from the beginning. Just start using Butler and discover a new feature every day." And yes, I discovered a lot of things Apple didn't think of, that simplified my everyday use of Mac, or make it more enjoyable. But there is certainly a learning curve here, it is so complex, customizable and versatile! I often make a donation for the best freewares I keep and use, but can't remember them all. Did I gave to this developer? Probably, a long time ago. So I will gladly pay again if I have to for an improved version, If this if possible.

I don't think some of the commenters have looked at the Manytricks blog : which says ... "all past donors (assuming you have proof of donation) will also receive free Butler 5 licenses.

I like Butler. In fact, I spent some time reporting bugs back in 2005. Later I donated some money, even though I only used one of Butler's features (Pasteboard). Dealing with Peter was great. I eventually donated to another application he wrote; Textpander. Once it became TextExpander I received a free license since I had made a donation. I have not used Butler in years. I'm looking forward to version 5, but don't know if I will buy it. Updates and fixes were few and infrequent, and there's no reward of any kind for the donation I made. Don't get me wrong, I'm still glad I donated back then, but usually when I've donated voluntarily for some software that becomes commercial or shareware, the developer takes this into consideration. In Butler's case here's what I found: "If you purchased Butler 4 between March 1st, 2009 and today, or if you purchase Butler 4 ($20) between now and Butler 5's release date, you'll receive a free upgrade to Butler 5 when it ships." I wonder if many people donated after March 1, 2009, considering Butler received a single update in 2008. I think it was a bug fix. Was it even updated in 2009? Wasn't the beta for version 5 mentioned almost 2 years ago? At $20 Butler is not an expensive application. I've donated more than $20 for other donationware applications. Still, I'm disappointed by the lack of recognition for people like me who donated back when Butler was being developed and frequently updated.

Yes, the site seems to have kicked off again, and Butler is no longer donation-ware; they've fixed the price at $20. I don't have a problem with this (seems like a fair price to me, though others may find it a little high compared to QSB, Quicksilver and Alfred). One thing that bothers me is the way the company just stopped without any word of explanation to its customers. First they stopped answering emails. Then they stopped answering questions on the forums (this went on for more than six months). Then the forums were closed down for maintenance and never reopened (they still haven't reopened as far as I can tell). So before I think about handing over any cash to them, I'd like to know why they closed down in the first place. Other Mac developers have closed down or given up, but usually give some kind of explanation so that customers are given a clear indication that they need to find alternatives. In fact, I'm often surprised how well Mac users take this news. I'd also like to know if the much bragged about Butler5 will ever make an appearance, or if they're just carrying on with Butler4 (though I suppose this isn't really important as long as they carry on supporting the product).

Yes, as the poster below says, Many Tricks is back online, with Rob Griffiths (of MacOSXHints fame) joining the company. There have been updates, they have an active blog now, and they are actively working on cool stuff as well as on more updates.

This blog http://www.manytricks.com/blog/ seems to suggest that they're anything but gone. Time will tell.

This is a really good application, but the search window should be a HUD. It would be much more practical to see what's underneath the window when we type our search... just prettier all together. Devs should consider that ;)

Well, as far as I see, they're back online. Don't bury them too fast. (Which doesn't mean they are not being buried, just slowly, they still can react.)

Long-time lover of Butler here - very disappointed. It looks like ManyTricks has gone for good, along with any chance that Butler will still be supported. Read this blog for more detailed information: http://www.macheist.com/forums/viewtopic.php?pid=355567

Is this developer still alive? I love this utility to death and was very excited for Butler 5... but that was supposed to be months and months ago. The website has disappeared, the other websites he has don't show any updates on anything that are recent... what's going on here?

I just tried to visit the Many Tricks website to learn more about Butler before installing it and discovered that both the manytricks.com and manytricks.de domains were unresponsive. A Whois search shows that the .com expired in December. Hopefully this is just a blunder on the part of who ever is in charge of their domain registration and nothing more. I'd hate to see them fold abruptly seeing that I've come to rely on a few of their products daily.

Of the launchers I've found, this is the best one (actually it is the only one that works on Snow Leopard without some ridiculous 5-10 second delay bringing up the search panel or some other bug). My only complaint is that it does not bring up the previous search upon activation, and there doesn't seem to be a way to do so. Mac OS X has a bad tendency of opening programs up in the background, so I often have to launch a program twice or even three times to get it to come to the front. In Quicksilver, this was easy because I could just do Command-Space, Return, but in Butler I have to retype the name of the program. Am I missing this option in the preferences? It shouldn't be too hard to implement.

Wow, just wow. I cannot understand why I did not find this incredible application sooner. It does almost everything. It has so many features that you may not have use for all features at the beginning. It took me awhile to set it up, but then, it was an absolute must on my computer. It's one of those "I wonder how I would survive without it" application.

This is an amazing application. I always heard about it and took so long to finally try it. It's wonderful. Launching Applescript with ease from the menubar is tiptop. Really cool and it helps me tons. So many other cool features too. Wow. Thanks for the excellent app.

WOW. Just WOW! This is a MASTERPIECE, everyone should have it! I was able to configure everything I wanted in just 2 minutes, which I never could in QuickSilver. Access anything you want in less than one second, all you need is to remember your shortcuts! As long as you can use your brain, you can do ANYTHING YOU WANT in no time. The only things I miss, and would like to see in Butler: - Transparent smart search window (like the one for websearch, it's stupid but it looks nicer!) - Possibility to execute terminal shell commands automatically by pasting it the same way as text. One last thing: Thanks so much ManyTricks, you rock!

Anyone know when 5.0 is gona' drop? I've been using Launchbar for awhile. I chose it over Butler long ago because of its intuitive nature, good documentation, and good support. This kind of app is essential to me so I never wanted to risk using freeware because it's sometimes not dependable when it comes to updates and support (understandably). But now that Butler is going shareware and there's gona' be a big overhaul, I'm definitely interested in checking it out. I don't really like Launchbar's UI. Not flexible enough. It tries to hard to be unobtrusive and ends up being to... I don't know... tiny. I have to refer to the documentation too much to figure out how to do stuff. Features are a bit too buried in my opinion. These apps are all about speed, unobtrusiveness, slickness, intuitive usability, and as I'm finding more need to use Launchbar as I become a more advanced computer user I find it's becoming harder and harder to use the app. Don't get me wrong. The app is still really sick and in my opinion at least as good as the current version of Butler. But I want more.

It would appear that my iTunes 7.7 problem was fixed with the iTunes 7.7.1 update. Yay! Now I can get the most out of this great piece of software. Keep up the good work; can't wait for version 5.

Fabulous app; been using it for over a year and couldn't live without it. However, it doesn't seem that the iTunes music library fully works with iTunes 7.7. You can still play albums and playlists, but it doesn't seem that you can play individual tracks anymore. It doesn't work for me, anyway. Anyone else having this problem?

Absolutely one of the most essential apps for my Mac and the first thing I install on every Mac I get. I donated as soon as this newest release was put out - I'm surprised it's still donationware, actually.

Since I met Butler about 2 years ago I've become dependent of this amazing, I repeat: AMAZING little program and I wouldn't want to use my Mac w/o Butler anymore. Developer is responsive and not only his software but also his price models are very user-friendly. Can't wait for v. 5.0 ...

The best jack-of-all mac launcher, controller, etc has gotten better. From the gate this app is THE one indespensible software that makes the mac experience even better. Extremely configurable.

Butler is great--I've been using it for years. But the blog entry linked to above, doesn't really explain why the current versions of Butler are in a "transient" state, expiring frequently. There may be a reason, but they haven't explained it very well if at all. The basic reason is probably the standard one for software in transition--they're concerned about bugs (including ones they don't yet know about) in these transitional versions, causing trouble if people keep using them even after an official release version is available.

AFAIR the default key for Abbreviation is: either Ctrl+Spacebar or Alt+Spacebar, but you can redo it to whatever you want in the configuration window. HTH

FYI, this version expires on Jan. 1, 2008. I hope they keep this Tiger compatible...

Awesome-O! Look forward for Butler 5!

Thanks very very much Sir for your good work, and for distributing this excellent utility for free. I can't imagine my Mac without Butler !

Great must-have app. But some functionality seems to be broken under Leopard, namely, being able to open a folder (from any active window) in finder via hotkey combination. Any one else have this issue? Otherwise works fine.

One of my favorite programs (LaunchBar is good too). Does a lot of small things well and can be adapted to a variety of personal work styles. Works great on 10.2.8 too (despite the warning). A couple examples: It can be used to create a Linux-style system menu or an Openbox-style floating system menu. It can be used to launch scripts or applications from menus or with keyboard shortcuts. It can be used to launch applications or navigate directories with abbreviations (LaunchBar is faster). It can be used to create and manage multiple clipboards, or custom clipboards. It can be used to navigate open applications. It can be used to put the computer to sleep. Etc. It's not the fastest interface utility, but it's by far the most flexible. Great stuff.

Everything QS can give me Butler gives me quicker and easier, and in a more organised and task-friendly fashion. Makes Quicksilver seem positively archaic.

tried out dragthing but couldn't get to like it; too complicated, i think. been using butler and been happy ever since. one thing though: after quitting itunes, butler freezes for some time (spinning beach ball). any fix? otherwise, perfect and irreplaceable. p.s. one year and no further development. i hope, it's not abandoned.

Great app. Other reviewers have covered the main points of this app. One thing that I haven't heard from reviewers is the great option of having a "docklet". My menu bar is already filled up with other items, so the option to use a docklet for everything is awesome. I postioned it vertical in the upper right hand corner away from everything. One minor suggestion would be a icon size option in the docklet. Keep up the great work!

I started out with Butler; used Quicksilver for a long while, but have come back to Butler. In one application I have an App Launcher, a document finder, an applescript launcher, a multi-clipboard manager, a custom text inserter, a Bookmarks manager (that works with whichever browser I'm using at the time), gives access to Sys Prefs, folders & Music, gives access to the Menubar, allows search engine specific searches from any application, allows access & searches of the Address Book… I could go on. I found that QS was quite slow on my macmini 1.66 w/1GB RAM but Butler is very zippy. In fact, I'm so happy with it, I've donated to the developer & encourage you to do so too.

I liked Quicksilver but it kept dying and I would have to restart it several times a day. So now I'm trying Butler and it can do everything that I was doing with Quicksilver, including custom-defined web searches, and indexing various document folders that I need to quickly reference. Although other users (below) report that Butler is slow, for me it works just as fast, if not faster, than Quicksilver. I'm using a MacBook Pro with 2 GB RAM.

I wanted to add the following to my menu bar: -choose from running applications -buttons for expose -multiple clipboard -iTunes controls -text shortcuts Butler gave me all this and a Spotlight query window eliminating the annoying delay the search whilst you type feature can sometimes produce. I have a Mac Mini G4 1.25GHz, no speed demon, and Butler runs great.

First impression it sucks, extremely slow and more often than not the beach ball of death appears when trying to use butler, it looks good on the outside but it takes up more power and also many of the featrues butler offers is already provided by MAC conclusion, better to stay with what you have on your mac, get quicksilver this is all you'll ever want its 10 times faster and better than butler.

Butler is one of the must have pieces of finderlore. I tried Quicksilver which can do wonders but can be a little scary and conducive to disasters quickly, so for all the types of launching I need Butler is WAY more than enough, very customizable, And the icon is the cutest thing LOL

First impressions are extremely positive. Here is a wish list based on my impressions: 1) The ability to nest both Apple (Bluetooth, Airport, Display, Keyboard input method) and third-party (DockFun, Alarm Clock 2, Amnesty, Sticky Windows) in groups under one menu item to save some menu real estate. 2) More bookmark management abilities, such as the ability to use one set of bookmarks (Safari or Firefox) as default and to sync or modify the other sets (Camino, Opera, Shiira) to look the same/contain the same bookmarks in the same places. 3) Ability to manage news, RSS and Atom bookmarks from Viena or RSSOwl. 4) Ability to bookmark non-Internet related items such as in Halon. 5) The ability to switch on or off viewing containers in nested (hierarchical) view from the menu bar. Absolutely a must have utility.

Continues it's reign of great tool at a great price (free). Thanks Peter!

I love Butler, but for some reason, the latest version broke my application launcher. It no longer indexes my programs so they can't be found in the launcher. I've tried ditching the configuration, but it doesn't seem to help.

After 6 updates, I'm still amazed at how stable and how great this gem works! I agree with with everyone when they say NOTHING touches this one. It's free, it's solid as a rock (for me 100%) , the interface is good and the documentation is very helpful! Wow, keep up the excellent work Peter Maurer! Maybe Apple will finally bundle it with all new Mac's since it fills the void where Finder eaves off!

Excellent, marvelous. Takes a little time to sort out the interface. But that is not to say that the interface needs to be improved. It's only the mass of available features that overwhelms at first. Usually I stay away from "swiss-army-knife" software that tries to do everything rather than just one thing. But Butler does a lot of things and does them all right. Despite the many features Butler is not bloated. Thanks, Peter Maurer. One issue: Files with umlauts are not recognized properly. So typing "Hägar" will give me only "www.hägar.com", not the various files with "Hägar" in their name.

This is by far the best launcher/hotkey program on the mac. Very fast and stable - I agree with other reviews: This app is definitley worth the time to learn and customize. Love the little itunes controls - couldn't do without it anymore (although I only tent to use is to skip tracks instead of browsing my entire music library which is a little slow..) Keep up the good work Peter!

The best launcher/hotkey program on the mac. Fast, stable and uses minimal resources -- definitley worth the time to learn and customize it. Thanks Peter!

What can I say. The best freeware app for Mac of all time. Peter is a gifted developer and interface designer. Gorgeous. Rock-solid. This is one tool that does it all, without sacrificing functionality or ease-of-use. m

Simply the best tool outthere for your mac. It's a launcher, a data finder, itunes controller, ICal and Adressbook manager.--all in one, but rock solid. It spares me huge amouts of time... Go try it, don't have nothing to loose it's free...

*The* launch solution for the Mac. Easy to set-up and start using, phenomenal power to be discovered as you get used to it. Solid as a rock, with a responsive developer. I would hate to have to use a Mac without Butler now.

Applications, iTunes controls and the pasteboard are great features. Butler is stable and I've never experienced a crash, so far so good.

Help w/ Butler Crashing? Can the developer or a kind-hearted Butler user help me sort out a problem w/ Butler crashing. I was in the first few days of trying it out when it crashed on me (no software or system changes had been made during this time.) After removing Preferences, uninstalling, reinstalling, etc., etc., etc., here's the Console report I continue to get: Butler(625,0xa000ed68) malloc: *** error for object 0x38c9d80: incorrect checksum for freed object - object was probably modified after being freed, break at szone_error to debug Butler(625,0xa000ed68) malloc: *** set a breakpoint in szone_error to debug Feb 25 20:03:53 Buddy-Roe's-Computer crashdump[633]: Butler crashed Any help would be greatly appreciated - Butler appears to be really useful and I'm keen to delve into it a little further. Thanks.

This is a great program. I think QuickSilver is faster and easier to set up, but the bookmark manager in Butler is the feature that made me switch; it's great to be able to keep the bookmarks in one place, outside of any browser. On that subject, my Butler menu bar icons seem to be missing in Firefox. This is not true for Camino, Safari, or Opera. Is Butler incompatible with Firefox? My setup is OSX 10.4.5, Firefox 1.5.0.1, Butler 4.0.1.

The disk image will not open after download. I can't get the app.

Butler, Textpander and Service Scrubber are indespensible gizmos from Peter. Thanks for the fine freeware.

Others have had problems with Butler hanging after installing 10.4.4 or QuickTime 7.0.4. I wasn't specifically paying attention for it, but I didn't notice any hanging after restarting my machine after installing QT. Anyone else have any problems?

that what i was looking for, the get my Alt-F2 linux-kde quickstart command back! Great Work!!! Thanks

Butler is indeed a very nice program, but I, being a long time Quicksilver user, found it not as much for the keyboard hardcore people. With Quicksilver, you can move files and whatnot all through the keyboard, and move quickly through folders (Butler can move through files as well, but I Quicksilver did a better job in that part. I wish the apps were combined, because both have what I want, and each have their own flaws. So the final verdict? If you want all out keyboard, go with Quicksilver. If you want lots of functionality, go with Butler.

Lots of other apps try to do pieces of what this one does. Don't be confused; this is the one you want!

Simply the best. You will wonder how you lived without it. I would love a feature that scrolls the currently playing itunes song across the menu bar right beside the butler icons. perfect. keep up the good work.