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Many Tricks releases version 3.0 of Witch, the window switching utility

Witch 3.0 allows Command-Tab activation, saving and loading themes, and controlling window title lengths

Portland, Oregon (April 7, 2010) – Many Tricks, makers of helpful apps, today released version 3.0 of Witch, its indispensable window switching utility. With Witch installed, a user doesn’t have to first use Command-Tab to switch between programs, and then work in each program to find the window they want to use. Instead, Witch allows users to switch directly to any open window in any program within the current Space. Witch turns a labor-intensive multi-step operation into nothing more complicated than pressing a couple of keys on the keyboard.

Witch 3 requires OS X 10.5 or newer and costs $19. A free upgrade will be given to users who purchased Witch 2 after March 17th, 2010. Existing users from before the cut-off date can upgrade to Witch 3 for eight dollars.

New in Witch 3 is the ability to assign the activation shortcut to Command-Tab, thereby completely replacing OS X’s built-in application switcher. Witch 3 also supports instant activation of the hide (H) and quit keys (Q); these keys now work when pressed, as they do when using the OS X application switcher. Witch also lets users minimize (M) and close (W) windows directly from the window switching panel, something they can’t do with the built-in application switcher.

Witch has always allowed users to customize the appearance of the window switching panel, but Witch 3 now lets users save multiple customized appearances, as well as load appearances from other sources. Witch 3 adds a new ‘window width slider’ designed to tame windows with incredibly long titles, such as those found on many web pages. Rather than simply truncating a window’s title, Witch 3 uses an algorithm to remove characters from the middle of the string, leaving window titles that are shorter yet still easily identifiable.

Finally, Witch 3 includes Sparkle support, so future updates can be done directly within the program.

As with previous versions of Witch, Witch 3 offers users the ability to set the sort order for windows in the switcher panel, set and customize activation keys for many different window management activities, specify programs and window titles that Witch should exclude from the list of open windows, and activate any of the first ten open windows with a single-key shortcut, much like Safari does with its first ten bookmarks.

Many Tricks has been producing great Mac software since 2002, and its product line currently includes Butler, Leech, Name Mangler, Witch, and a handful of small free utilities.

For more information, contact:
Rob Griffiths (rob at manytricks dot com)
http://www.manytricks.com