LaunchBar Commander is what is commonly referred to as an "Application Launcher"; it is typically docked to the side of your screen and lets you configure buttons and menus which will launch your favorites programs.

LaunchBar Commander has a slightly different focus than some other launch bar tools:

• It's designed for power users who value efficiency over eye candy - although you can choose some nice appearance skins for the program, if you are looking for a super fancy animated mac-style dock with dancing icons, LaunchBar Commander is not the tool for you (but see the help file for links to other freeware/shareware alternatives you might like).
• It's designed to store docking bar configurations in self-contained files - so you can back them up easily, move them to other computers, switch between configurations, etc.
• It emphasizes the use of highly configurable Menus rather than just buttons - you can build hierarchical menus of any depth and varying types.
• It has a very powerful tree configuration tool which supports copy and paste, drag and drop, easy temporary disabling, multiple configuration files, etc.
• Multiple dock support - a single instance of the program can support multiple docks and tray menus.
• Robust support for virtual file menus - configure menu items to give you access into specific folders, with many options.
• Drag and drop runtime support - drop files onto buttons to open them with the specific program, or add them to the launch bar.
• Smart tree building - extracts icons and descriptions from files and pictures.
• Advanced button and menu types - including switchable Tool Buttons, Batch Buttons, Virtual Links, and more coming soon.
• Smart icon retrieval - use application icons, standalone .ico files, or even .bmp files.
• Special menu building blocks for Start Menu, MyDocuments, etc. More coming soon (control panel, printers).
• Works great on removable usb flash type drives - will auto adjust to changing drive letters and requires no installation
• Optional use of skins to get the perfect look to match your background wallpaper.
• Easily toggle launchbars to tray mode so you can use them as tray menus when you don't want them taking up space on your desktop.