Best Launcher for OS5 : LauncherX or ZLauncher?

[THX-1138]

I have just purchased my great Palm Tungsten T and wish to purchase a good launcher for it. I know that two popular versions exist:

LauncherX

and

ZLauncher

which is best and why? Your point of view is appreciated.

Thanks.

[PALM MASTER]

Zlauncher is why better. I is cheaper and you have color choice. I can even put a picture of you pet or family is the back round

[sleuth255]

I've never used ZLauncher but I sure do like Launcher X. My favs are:

Can arrange icons any way you want
Shortcuts
Easy to get a nice uncluttered appearance
good D-Pad support

Use McPhling in conjuction with it and the combo is unbeatable IMO: shortcuts allow you to turn off VFS support in McPhling and still launch card apps. This makes McPhling much faster.

Z-Launcher might have all these as well. Like I said, I've never used Z-Launcher. LX doesn't have background pic support though.

[mmmkay]

i just tried out zlauncher on the palmos simulator :)

every launcher i've tried before had good / bad things

i like zlauncher's ability to display a background image, it looks very, verynice on the T's display too

i haven't transferred it to my T yet, since it seems to crash a lot on the simulator

i wish the built in launcher had background image support or something fancy like that

i have silverscreen (and i would use it) but it doesn't do what the built in launcher does with the Dpad (like select, and open apps)

[THX-1138]

I got Zlauncher and it works great with the Tungsten T! It does not crash and it is compliant with OS5. It's very flexible and the great thing is that I can ad a backdrop (Wallpaper) on my 320x320 16k color screen! Thanks for your opinions.

[jdfurbert]

I think ZLauncher is great aswell, but how do you set a different background for the wallpaper?

[sleuth255]

Originally posted by mmmkay
i have silverscreen (and i would use it) but it doesn't do what the built in launcher does with the Dpad (like select, and open apps)

Supposedly, SilverScreen's latest release (its at Palmgear.com) now has D-Pad support. Also, fireviewer has been updated to run on OS5 so the SilverScreen photo display function should work again too.

[THX-1138]

Hello!

First you need to download available backgrounds from:

6 OPTIONAL BACKGROUNDS PROVIDED BY ZZTECHS (http://www.zztechs.com/en/zlauncher/theme.php4)

If it's for the Tungsten T get the 320x320 64K picture and upload it to your PALM. When the background file is in your palm :

-open up Zlauncher

-click on the POPUP MENU icon on the bottom

-click on OPTIONS

-click on DISPLAY SETUP

-look for "BACK IMAGE" , it's on lower part of the screen

-click on the down triangle and you should see the image file name (i.e. "1_320_16k.bmp"), click on it

-click on OK

You will be taken back to your "DESKTOP" with your new background picture.

What I'm trying to find out is how to make or use my own background picture, if someone knows please post here.

Thanks and hope this helps!

[mmmkay]

i found the cause of the crash on the simulator, if anybody is interested
the tungsten has 2mb ram to work with, and i had the simulator set to use 512K instead of 2mb (it has option for 512K, 1024 and 2048)

the background image is the only good thing imo
and silverscreen doesn't really support the Dpad that well

oh well
i'll see if the latest silverscreen supports the Dpad better (like being able to launch apps w/ the select button)

[sinon]

Originally posted by mmmkay
i just tried out zlauncher on the palmos simulator :)

every launcher i've tried before had good / bad things

i like zlauncher's ability to display a background image, it looks very, verynice on the T's display too

i haven't transferred it to my T yet, since it seems to crash a lot on the simulator

i wish the built in launcher had background image support or something fancy like that

i have silverscreen (and i would use it) but it doesn't do what the built in launcher does with the Dpad (like select, and open apps)

Make sure you are using a release version of PalmOS5 simulator, rather than the full debug version.

ZLauncher DOSE support Palm TT fully. It offers the support of DPad, High-Density, small icon, small font...

ZLauncher 2.0 was just released. Just download a trial and have it a try, maybe you will find more than you expect.
:)

[The Nush]

Can someone tell me what the Palm os5 simulator is and how to get /use it? Sounds like it's something to test compatibility and I have already found need for that, In terms of a launcher...with appt/todo option also... how about "FACER"? I have it set on the "Today" page to open at power up. But I used it on my 515 before geting the TT and might just be a crature of habit.

[mmmkay]

here's a link :) (http://www.palmos.com/dev/tools/simulator/)


Enjoy.

[PALM MASTER]

It is really easy to get your own pictures as the backround. Download a pic to your card then hold your styles on the card till a menu comes up then select set as wall paper

[mmmkay]

facer looks quite nice, but it doesn't really justify spending 13 US on.. that's almost 20$ cdn :p

Today 1.7 is freeware, works on the T, but most of the themes dont look nice on hires.. the default theme looks OK i would say. its not very very very pretty, and there are a few bugs, but its freeware.

if facer was like 5$ like pocket tunes is until end of the year, i would seriously consider purchasing a copy for myself

but for now, i just have the demo copy on my Tungsten, and has the words DEMO all over it ;)

heh
maybe i'll get addicted to facer and end up buying it anyways.. :p

it does kind of suck that pocketPCs come with all this stuff built into the OS (and it costs the same too.. for the handheld) while the Tungsten has only Datebook's today view. i mean the T has a nice 320x320 colour screen, you'd think they'd maybe add some apps to take advantage of that bundled in with the unit?

that's just my opinion.

[THX-1138]

Thanks PALM MASTER for the tip on how to put your own pictures as a background on Zlauncher, now it's really personalized! This is a great launcher app!!

[crjo]

Hello all !

Personnaly, I have tried both, and there is absolutely no doubt in my mind : LauncherX is by far the best launcher for the TT !!

OK, it does not offer as many personalization options as Zlauncher, but the READABILITY is amazing, the tool bar is simple and effective, it is stable (I have yet to crash even once !!)

Zlauncher is simply too complicated !!


But I guess everyone likes different things...

crjo

[kenneth19642002]

I agree with crjo. I have tried both as well. While both are excellent launchers and an improvement over the native launcher, ZLauncher is way too complicated.

Launcher X is the one I prefer.

[Pride Of Lions]

I like SilverScreen for their super-cool themes. I've tried the demo of LauncherX, and I was really into the usability of the program, but when I saw just how fresh the SilverScreen themes looked on the TT's screen, I just couldn't resist. I already have a card file manager, so that aspect didn't really sell me on LauncherX.

It just looks so clean on the TT. When I tried LauncherX, it looked like it was made for my old m505, while SilverScreen looks custom made for the hi-res 320x320 screen.

But that's just me,
POL9A

[mmmkay]

I've set my voice recorder button to go back to application launcher, pressing it more than once just goes thru all the different catergories... which is great.

But what bugs me the most is that if I set the voice recorder button to launch SilverScreen (or LauncherX) it only loads the launcher and does NOT go through the different catergories (!)

Oh well, SilverScreen does look very nice and all, allowing me to catergorize the apps on the SD card too, but I find that pressing the button to go thru catergories more useful.

And BTW, make sure you choose a theme with "HD" (High Density) appended to the name otherwise it looks pixellated. It looks OKAY, and I was surprised that LauncherX seemed so much more useful (in terms of tools on the little tool bar) and there was even a theme to make the little tool bar look like the one on Mac OS X :)

However, I already have SilverScreen, and LauncherX is another way to do something I can already do.

Also did you notice almost all the themes for SilverScreen have been updated for OS 5 and 320x320 displays :) This is very cool! I just wish they would let us create our own themes.. and maybe a background picture.. haha :) just my little wish list.

Hope that helped

[zerolight]

having tried them all, i like YiShow the best.

[mmmkay]

I'm now hooked on ZLauncher :p

[Kasia]

I'm still undecided - there are things I like about each one.

[ijcohen]

launchers are matters of personal preference. There is no way one is always best. I like a combination of 1 Button Pro because nothing gives fastetr access to the programs I use and Facer becuase it gives the longest list of To-Dos and Appointments when I turn the T on. Today resembles Facer and it is free, The author of Facer has promised in an e-mail to include bigger fonts in the next up-date for to-dos for those of us with middle-aged eyes. :cool: :cool:

[The Nush]

I had to hard reset my TT and set a new user ID. For over 1 week I have been waiting for Launcher X to answer 5, yes 5 e-mail requests I have sent for a new reg. code! The program's nice, but I'm sure not going to buy it a second time. This is TERRIBLE support, and very annoying with the reg. request screen popping up. Every other app I had to get a new code for responded very quickly. I'd suggest going with other software for this reason alone.

[mmmkay]

Can't you just sync again with your existing username?

[The Nush]

mmmkay.....no. There were several apps that I had just installed at the time it crashed and going to my backup file to rem0ove them, I was not able to recognize the files I needed to remove and inadvertantly removed something that prevented the TT from booting properly. So I had to modify my user name and start from scratch. I guess the issue of lack of support, though, was something I thought folks on this message board should know about. All other apps had been reinstalled and where needed, the developer has supplied new reg. code w/o problem....just not Launcher X

[Kasia]

Are you just sending your request to support@launcherx.com?

The address for a reg code change is different - you have to send it to support.bozidar@launcherx.com and put regcode in the subject.

Are you still using the same email address that you used to register Launcher X?

Just trying to figure out why they are so unresponsive - it seems unreasonable to have such a long wait.

[The Nush]

Thanks..I'll try the new e-mail address and if I have success, I'll post it on this board.

[mmmkay]

I didn't read the above posts but have you tried removing the entire hotsync username directory from the Palm desktop folder? That way you'll retain your existing username, and start off fresh, and you won't have a problem with the reg codes :)

Alternately if you have already created a new username for yourself, you can use the changename utility (is that the right name?) to change your hotsync username right on the PDA and then follow the above steps to move or delete your original hotsync username folder.

Tell me if that works.

[The Nush]

The differnet e-mail address has still not yielded any response. As for the suggestions, mmmkay, about clearing out the old folder, that would have been very interesting approach initally. Now, I've re-installed everything, with new codes/user name EXCEPT LauncherX..so I feel like I just need to wait them out, annoying as it is. Is this what they mean by "a rock and a hard place"? This is one of the few programs I have not purchased thru Handango..and in the past, they've been helpful in such situations in the past. I think I got LauncherX from Palm Gear, but not really sure. Wouldn't it be nice if this were the only problem in life?