ShortCut

ShortCut is an easy-to-use application that facilitates shortcuts to several built-in Windows features and applications, thus giving you the possibility to quickly launch them from a single window instead of wasting them looking them up in the Start Menu and other areas on the computer.

The installation operation doesn't take long and the only notable aspect about it is that you must have .NET Framework installed. Once it's over, you can bring up the main app window, split into two panes for launching accessories and system tools.

In the accessories area you can view Notepad, Wordpad, Command Prompt, Calculator, Microsoft Paint, Character Map, Disk Cleanup, Disk Defragmenter, XPS Viewer, Narrator, On Screen Keyboard, Sound Recorder, Step Recorder, Snipping Tools, Windows Explorer, Sticky Notes, Windows Version, Windows Features, and User Accounts.

Meanwhile, from the system section you can launch Computer Management, Control Panel, Device Manager, Disk Management, Event Viewer, Group Policy Editor, Task Manager, System Configuration, Remote Assistance, Remote Desktop Assistance, Performance Monitor, Resource Monitor, System Restore, Task Scheduler, Windows Firewall, Registry Editor, Windows Update, Utility Manager, User Account Settings, and Print Management.

The bottom side of the window shows the PC user name, system page size and OS version, along with the processor and drives count. Worth noting is that the last accessed feature or tool twinkles when ShortCut's window is in focus.

It remained stable throughout its runtime in our tests, without triggering the operating system to hang, crash or indicate errors. System resources usage was minimal

Too bad that ShortCut doesn't implement options for customizing the Windows tools and features, in order to add new ones and remove the ones you don't need. Otherwise, it offers you a simple and straightforward solution for quickly accessing important OS utilities.