Quicksilver guide ...

I use three desktop operating systems: Windows XP SP2, Mac OSX 10.4, and Ubuntu Linux 8.04. The  vast majority of my desktop time is spent on the Mac, followed by Ubuntu, with Windows a distant third. One of the things that I love about the Mac is a piece of software called Quicksilver. It's an application launcher, which sounds pretty boring, but is really pretty exciting. At its most basic, Quicksilver allows you to launch things and do things without using the mouse. Here's the usual sequence:

• Hit Ctrl-Spacebar
• Start typing "W o r"
• Icon for MS Word appears
• Hit enter and it launches

This is much cooler than it might at first sound. :) Here is a collection of Quicksilver articles:

Quicksilver: The Guide | TheAppleBlog

If you're looking for something similar for the Linux Gnome desktop, try Gnome-Do , which is pretty impressive in its own right. On the Windows side, there is a nice list of Quicksilver-like apps
on Scott Hanselman's blog.