Start++ for Vista

I really dig the new start menu in Vista, especially how you can type in commands and quickly search for local items, including program shortcuts.  One thing that has been missing however (over the previous MSN desktop search and other similar tools) is a way to pass arguments to create more customized shortcuts.

For example, using a previous version of MSN Desktop Search it was possible to create a shortcut using passed query parameters that looked like this:

amazon .NET

...which could launch Amazon.com, and show all results for all products containing the word ".NET".  Another example:

dict Enterprise

..which could lanch Encarta's dictionary and pull up the definition for Enterprise.

Fellow GTDers/command line fans can now experience the same shortcut bliss on Vista courtesy of Brandon Paddock, who has released a new tool called Start++, available for download here. 

After installing the tool, you configure similar shortcuts that used to be available in MSN Desktop Search - the above screenshot was my very first test creating one for Amazon.  Very cool.  Kudos to Brandon.