MercuryMover Helps You Control Windows with the Keyboard

If you prefer using the keyboard instead of a mouse or if you're a busy developer who doesn't have the time it takes to move your hands between the keyboard and the mouse, the guys at Helium Foot Software created MercuryMover just for you. MercuryMover is a small utility that allows you to move and resize windows directly from your keyboard. If memorizing a few hot keys and applying them is easier than reaching for the mouse to perform a certain action, MercuryMover may be the perfect system enhancing utility for you.

The Looks

MercuryMover is a preference pane that you can access and customize from the System Preferences window. The interface of the application consists of the two configuration tabs available in the Preference pane and the floating window that appears when you activate MercuryMover.

The simplicity of the program also makes it intuitive and very easy to customize: you only have to change the default keyboard shortcuts to the ones you want and choose the appropriate action for each given modifier key. The default configuration of the hot keys is logical and very easy to memorize even for a budding Mac user, so you may not even have to change the shortcuts.

The Works

The application is simple and very easy to use, but it requires you to be very well acquainted with working with the keyboard. MercuryMover's main purpose is to help you keep your hands on the keyboard without reaching for the mouse every single minute.

To be able to run MercuryMover, you need to activate the 'Access for assistive devices' option in the Universal Access preference pane. The Configuration pane of MercuryMover is very intuitive, allowing you to change the program's default keyboard shortcuts. There are three ways to activate MercuryMover, one for each of the basic functionalities of the application: Move (Command-Ctrl-Up), Resize Right/Down (Command-Ctrl-Right) and Resize Left/Up (Command-Ctrl-Left). The default keyboard shortcuts can be easily modified just by clicking in the corresponding field and typing the new hot key.

The basic functions of MercuryMover include the possibility to maximize your current window using only a keyboard shortcut and place the window in the center of the screen just as easy. You can always undo or redo your last command with the help of the same hot keys that you surely have used in other applications before: Command-z and Command-Shift-z.

I usually work with many windows of different applications placed all over the screen. MercuryMover proves to be very useful every time a program, mostly a game, changes the position of all the opened windows and creates a stack of windows in the upper left corner of the screen. In this case, MercuryMover is the simplest way to restore windows to their normal places.

The best feature of MercuryMover is the possibility to create custom size and position shortcuts. Just enter your preferred hot key and the window's target size and position. There's no need for you to specify data for all the fields: Width, Height, Left and Top; just fill in the fields that you want to change.

MercuryMover is merely a time saving application. It won't work with windows that don't permit you to move or resize them. MercuryMover resizes application windows to the smallest dimension allowed. For example, you can't change the dimension of iTunes' main window to a smaller size than 700 x 400 pixels. So, if you were thinking of forcing the process of resizing windows with this small tool, you will end up very disappointed.

While testing MercuryMover with different programs, I noticed an odd reaction of the application. When you work with a window that can't be resized, activating MercuryMover's Resize Left/Up function has the same effects as the Move feature. Instead of resizing the current window to the left or up, it moves the window in any direction with the selected amount of pixels. This is only the case for the Resize Left/Up feature, while its Resize Right/Down function behaves as expected with unresizable windows.

The Good

MercuryMover is a simple software application that you only have to configure once and then you can use it daily. By testing the software during several days, I realized its value and ease of use. For people who like using the keyboard shortcuts better than the mouse, MercuryMover will prove to be a great asset.

The Bad

The only thing that I can mention here and that I have already described in the review is the strange behavior of the Resize Left/Up function for windows that can't be resized. Most probably, that is only a bug which can be easily fixed by the developers.

The Truth

Using keyboard shortcuts for different actions is a great way to increase your speed and efficiency and MercuryMover helps you do exactly that. The application is definitely worth a try and if you decide that you want to keep using it after its 100 session trial expires, you can purchase a license for $20.

Here are some snapshots of the application in action: