ControlBar

There are different ways to customize your computer, and not just as a way of making things look pretty. Chances are you’re looking for methods to keep the desktop clean, but also be able to launch items of interest fast. This is exactly the purpose of ControlBar, letting you run programs at the press of a button.

You quickly get the chance to check out the application’s features, with the option to have it launched directly when setup closes. A panel shows up on the desktop with several Windows programs configured so you get an idea how it’s all about, namely Explorer, Notepad, and a few more.

Needless to say that you’re free to add more entries as you see fit. On the bright side, this implies going through a wizard configuration process, which makes it easy for individuals of all levels of experience to add custom programs. However, be sure to only target executables and to provide an icon, or you might run into some serious program stability issues.

Accessing this wizard is done from the context menu, which also makes it possible to force the panel to stay on top of everything else. You can move the control bar in any suitable desktop position, but with no option to resize it or send it to the tray area.

Heading over to the options menu allows you to define a few style options, and there are even several different skins to choose from. Sadly, there isn’t a built-in option to make it run with Windows, but this can be bypassed by manually adding a shortcut to the system Startup folder.

Taking everything into consideration, we can state that ControlBar comes with good intentions, but feels a little rough around the edges overall. The visual design isn’t really something to make it stand out from the crowd, and you might run into some issues while adding your programs.