Appetizer

Appetizer is a software utility that enables you to create a list with favorite programs to quickly launch, folders to open, or web links to visit from a dock. It has a wide range of customization preferences.

Setting it up takes minimal time and effort, since there are no special options, mandatory software products, or third-party offers bundled with the installation kit.

At startup, the tool offers to import shortcuts from PortableApps.com applications, the Windows quick launch toolbar and Start Menu programs, along with custom locations.

The dock is small and has a simple design, showing the icon of each program that can be launched. It can be resized to make room for all icons, or you can open a drop-down menu to view a list with all options.

New shortcuts can be created by indicating a file, folder or URL, display name, icon, as well as command-line parameters to enhance functionality. They can be organized into different groups by type or other criteria.

Appetizer also contains a list with frequently used Windows locations and programs that can be quickly added to the dock, such as "My Computer", "Control Panel", "Recycle Bin" and "Calculator".

It supports multiple languages and instances, and can keep the frame on top of other open windows. Moreover, the tool can be integrated into the Windows autorun sequence, so it gets launched by default every time you turn on your computer. Another option is to install an autorun file on a removable drive, so that the application auto-runs every time you insert the device into the PC.

When it comes to the dock's appearance, it's possible to tinker with the icon size, label position, orientation, skin and opacity level, while the tray icon can be hidden and replaced by a taskbar icon. Appetizer's dock can auto-hide after launching a program as well as rapidly hide or show the bar when triggering a specific keyboard shortcut (can be remapped). Plugins are supported.

To conclude, Appetizer comes bundled with a surprisingly resourceful set of configuration options for launching programs, opening files, and visiting URLs from a desktop dock. Although it hasn't received updates for a long time, it worked flawlessly on newer Windows editions in our tests. System resources usage was minimal.