In case you wonder why I have both programs, I love to diddle around with utilities, and the nice folks where I work subsidize my curiosity by giving me a generous software allowance.
Let's start with basics: the only reason to use either of these programs is if they provide a faster and/or more efficient way to get something open. System 7/7.1 provides a couple of good built-in time savers with the Start-Up Items folder, the Apple Menu Items folder, and the alias function. With these, you can get at programs and documents fairly easily. Before I had PowerLaunch I had a string of aliases going across the bottom of my desktop and half-way up the left side. With Now Menus installed, I put aliases of my internal and external hard disks as well as one password-protected disk partition where I keep confidential stuff. This gives clean access to things buried 5 levels deep in the HFS. Now Menus also allows you to create extra menus in the left & right corners of the screen to add programs, documents, etc. and arrange them in most any order. Another speedy choice is QuicKeys; you can program the 15 F keys at the top of the extended keyboard to open applications. So as I said, there are a lot of ways to open things quickly and efficiently.
Why then use PowerLaunch or Square One at all? The primary reason is that none of these other methods (except aliases on the desktop) provides a visual reference point that's sitting right in front of you. The Mac was built on icons and they're still the easiest way to remember what something is (why else does Microsoft keep adding menu bars to its upgrades of Word & Excel?). When your mind is focused on the specifics of a complex project, it's a pain in the neck to stop and drag a menu where a choice is made by where you LET GO of the mouse--a method much more likely to produce a mistake than a choice made by clicking on something. It's also a drag to try to remember which Fkey brings up the other program or utility you want; again, it's easy to make a mistake, then have to wait for the wrong thing to open. I used to have Adobe Illustrator installed on F5 and MacDraw Pro on F6, and I frequently opened the one I didn't want. My Fx is speedy, but waiting for Illustrator to open is about as tedious as watching a Woody Allen movie in Japanese.
So PowerLaunch and Square One have the common virtue of putting the icon (and name) right there in front of you and allowing you to select what you want by clicking on it. Not much chance for a mistake with either program. You can also bring their windows to the front simply by sliding the mouse. So why do I think PowerLaunch is better?
Most of the reasons that I prefer PowerLaunch have to do with the layout. Let's face it: most users don't have 21" screens to play with, so the "large" display options in both programs will be used by few. The "large with name" option in Square One uses a rectangle roughly 1 inch by 1.5 inches per icon. To display the 80 icons that I'll be discussing below, you'd need a Mitsubishi 50" big screen attached to your Mac. So let's assume most of us choose the "small" option in PowerLaunch and the "small without name" option in Square One. Square One crowds the icons closer together against a gray background. PL spaces them further apart and places them against a white background. Conclusion: the icons are easier to distinguish and identify in PL.
Another important aspect of layout is that Square One lets you add an unlimited number of icons to the palette, which are all displayed at once. At first, that might seem to be an advantage. PL limits you to 80 choices with only 8 displayed at one time. So let's say you filled the PL palettes and then put the same 80 choices on one Square One Palette. What you end up with in Square One violates our original reason for using these programs: speed & simplicity. You see a confusing clutter of little icons. With PL you have to take an extra second to select one of 10 palettes from the title bar at the bottom of the window, but it's still faster than running your eye over 80 icons. Round 2 to PL.
A third difference in layout is that Square One does not display the name of the icon when you move the cursor over it; you have to click it once for the name to appear. With PL, the names are instantly displayed as the cursor slides over the icon. This helps when you have several identical icons located on the same palette. For example, I use a program called EasyPrint so I can change printers on my network by clicking on an icon rather that going through the Chooser. I have four printers to choose from, so I have four identical icons loaded next to each other. In PL this is no problem, since I can just slide the cursor. In Square One, I have to stop and click until I find the one I want.
A fourth difference is that Square One requires two clicks on the icon to open the application, whereas PL only requires one.
A fifth difference in layout is the way the two programs handle documents attached to applications. Square One creates a cumbersome "document list" that hangs down below the icon palette, making the total program window much larger. PL does this more efficiently by creating a floating window that can be brought up by holding down the mouse for an extra second. This is good because I like to keep the program window down to its absolute minimum size.
A sixth difference is the way tools and preferences are controlled. Square One makes you go to the screentop menu (or remember their command key equivalents, ha-ha) while PL has the toolbar attached, but easily hidden, to the icon palette. I keep it hidden in line with what I said about preferring a small window, but it's very easy to remember which bar I need to click on to bring it up--it's visually logical. And on the subject of tools, your monitor control and sound control are handy, and Square One has no counterparts.
That's about it. If I wanted to be really picky I could point out that Square One's manual is a model of stupid and disorganized writing (I mentioned this to them when I sent in my registration card, but I never heard back from them). Does Square One have any features I prefer? Yes, I like the fact that I can attach folders as well as applications. I like the fact that it will automatically create a separate window of open applications if I choose to have that option on. It's just like the application icon in the upper right corner of the Mac menu, but again, all the icons are visible at once. That's about all the advantages I can think of.
PL has been a bit unstable as mentioned in my earlier mail. I had another jolt when I used the upgrade to 2.3.2s you recently uploaded. At first, I got a loud noise warning that I had done an unauthorized modification to the program or some such thing, then it told me I wasn't registered. I think the problem was created by the fact that I took some of the stuff out of the two folders they were kept in; when I put them back, it worked OK.
How would I improve PL in the future? I'd let the user add as many palettes as he wants, not limit it to ten. I'd let the user decide how few or many icons are displayed in each palette. I'd let folders be placed on the palettes, and if possible, holding down the button on the folder would display hierarchical contents (like in Walker's OtherMenu). That's all I can think of right now, and it's pushing 1 am, so I think I'd better stop. I hope my comments have been helpful.
