Then I decided to create a simple application launcher using this control. It's something like a quick-launch menu - users can add shortcuts to applications they use frequently and then start them from there.
Here are some screenshots of the Circle Launcher:
The user control creates animations when the user passes over an icon with the mouse:
It supports transparency and the windows is at the top-level, so it's convenient to use. Also, when the icons become too much for just one circle, the control automatically expands itself.
The application is under development, but still, I decided to post a preliminary version here.
The current features include:
- Adding new icons with drag and drop
- Automatic saving of the icons to XML and then loading back on startup
- Hotkey for showing the launcher - F12
- Moving the launcher across the screen (by dragging the center circle) and saving it's position
- Auto-hide when a shortcut is launched
- Manual hide by double-clicking the center or using the context menu of the system tray icon
- Adding and removing shortcuts (Launcher Items)
- Explicitly setting the properties of a shortcut - Name, Icon, Launch path, etc.
- Events for launching, moving, double-click, etc.
- Settings for the circle radius, max number of items in each radius, icon sizes
- Animations
- Built-in drag-drop support for shortcuts
- Support for databinding
Download Circle Launcher
You can download the application from here. You'll need .NET 3.5 to run it.
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