Enso Holy ****ing **** this is amazing
#1
Posted 01 December 2008 - 02:59 AM
The best way to describe this program would be that it makes your life significantly easier whenever you have to interact with a computer.
http://www.humanized.com/enso/
Typed a sentance and then decided you want it in all caps? Just highlight it, press whatever key you use to activate Enso with, and type in "upper case". Decided you wanted it in lower case instead? That works too.
You can also open up any program or folder on your computer by typing in "open" and then the name of the program/folder. Though anything out side of your start menu and control panel will have to be "taught".
You teach Enso by highlighting the program/folder you want to assign an open command to, type in "learn as open," and the the name you want to give it.
Say for example you have a folder of family pictures that you're constantly accessing. Just select it and type in "learn as open" followed by, say, "family photos".
Now whenever you want to access that folder, just type in "open family photos" and the folder will open. You can do that for any program too.
You can also close the window yout in by typing "close," as well as copying, pasting, or cutting any highlighted text. Heck, you can even highlight a math problem and tell itto calculate it.
If there's a window you have open that's burried under a pile of other windows, just type in "go [insert window name]" and it'll pop up. You can also highlight a file and tellenso to open it with a specified program. For instance, if you wanted to edit a photo in paint, just highlight the photo, and type "open with paint".
There's even a few plugins in beta testing for added functionality, like one that allows you to pause, stop, play, skip, rewind, etc. your music if it's playing. It'll work in WMP, iTunes, and Winamp among a few others. Support for other players is underway.
If you know how to code in any language that supports XML-RPC, the possibilities for this program are turely endless.
Beta add-on page is here.
tl;dr install Enso. Doesn't matter how computer literate you are, this program was designed to be easy to learn and use.
#2
Posted 01 December 2008 - 03:29 AM
#3
Posted 01 December 2008 - 03:33 AM
Don't knock it 'till you've tried it.
Oh yeah, forgot to mention. If you can't remember the full name of a folder or program you want to open, just type in what you remember and it will likely show up in a list below the input box.
What makes most of these functions faster though, is the auto complete thing. The most used command associated with what you're typing will appear in the box, and you just have to press enter to complete it. letting go of caps lock (the default activation button) will launch the command.
It's actually incredibly fast once you get used to it, not to mention that you can completely clear you desktop of all icons (save for the recycle bin of course) if you wanted.
#4
Posted 01 December 2008 - 03:46 AM
Toasty, on Dec 1 2008, 07:59 PM, said:
Useful for trolls, not much else.
Toasty, on Dec 1 2008, 07:59 PM, said:
Run command, quick launch, shortcuts.
Toasty, on Dec 1 2008, 07:59 PM, said:
Close button, modifier keys.
Toasty, on Dec 1 2008, 07:59 PM, said:
Taskbar, alt+tab.
Toasty, on Dec 1 2008, 07:59 PM, said:
Open With command.
Toasty, on Dec 1 2008, 07:59 PM, said:
Playback buttons, mini players.
=3
#5
Posted 01 December 2008 - 04:10 AM
Split Infinity, on Dec 1 2008, 01:46 AM, said:
probably, but I find that it's useful every now and then for non troll related things.
Split Infinity, on Dec 1 2008, 01:46 AM, said:
Only works if the program is in the windows system32 folder, or you know the exact file path. It doesn't have an auto complete feature, so it takes longer too. I used to use the run command a lot, and I find Enso much quicker.
You acually have to move your mouse to get to the quick launch bar. Plus, too many and it gets crowded and looses it's usefulness. Same goes for shortcuts
Split Infinity, on Dec 1 2008, 01:46 AM, said:
Close buttone is slow since you have to navigate the mouse to get to it. Alt+F4 is quicker though, I'll admit, but after getting used to Enso, it's only by a small margine.
Split Infinity, on Dec 1 2008, 01:46 AM, said:
Again, you have to use the mouse. The mouse is slow. Period. Especially since Enso has auto-complete.
Alt+tab is actually slightly slower from my experience, but only slightly. Though you also don't have to remember the name of the window, so Alt+Tab probably has the upper hand there.
Split Infinity, on Dec 1 2008, 01:46 AM, said:
With the current full-release version of Enso launcher (1.0), the open with command does have the upper hand.
But with 2.0, you no longer need to highlight the file. Just type "Open with" and two text boxes will appear as Open [textbox] with [textbox]. And again, due to the auto complete, it only takes a few keystrokes. You don't have to type in the full names (most of the time, at least).
Split Infinity, on Dec 1 2008, 01:46 AM, said:
keyboard>>>>>>mouse when it comes to speed and accuracy.
And not all keyboards have media buttons either.
Until you've actually tried out this program and have extensively used it, you don't really have a basis for your opinions. You've only seen it from one viewpoint.
Anyway, I've been using it for a little while now, and I can honestly say that it makes opening programs and files much, much quicker, since I don't have to go looking through my hard drive for them. It also made my cluttered dektop incredibly tidy.
All that said, Enso still has one thing that makes it way better than anything integrated into Windows XP/Vista. The ability to code your own commands. The possibilities are litterally infinite. Imagine being able to quickly find a song by either searching for the name, album, artist, release year, etc., and playing it in any media player installed on your computer. All without having to open a single program or folder.
Yes, not everyone can code in python/ruby/etc., but for those who can, this immediately becomes a killer app.
#7
Posted 01 December 2008 - 06:00 AM
And I don't think anyone here will argue that a keyboard is more accurate.