I am still waiting, somebody would make such program.

Ah, you mean something from media center type. Closest I used is XBMC when I was messing with UPnP server/player setup, but it is quite heavy.

It is probably time for me to get this post in order and sum up results from first round. I am losing track of all requests and suggestions. :)

HULU first came to mind, although I don’t use it myself, here’s an alternative but it’s still too bloated for my needs.

http://zeevee.com/zinc/simple-navigation

Hulu you mean that video site? It blocks me out by geography so no idea on that one.

Yeah, Total Commander is close to ultimate file manager but it doesn’t pass as freeware. It is ok to use it as endless trial (developer said that in interviews) but still.

Switcher looks interesting but I am still on XP. Hope it will fit Dan who is on Vista as I understood from comment context.

As for a two pane file browser, I can’t live without Total Commander http://www.ghisler.com (sadly it’s not free but very powerful)

For alt-tab switching give Switcher a try http://insentient.net/

I know Free Commander but I don’t like it much. Interface feels sluggish. It’s like hybrid of dual pane file manager and Explorer.

Maybe it can be tweaked to fit my taste better, I have portable version around to poke at some time.

But for your file browser @rarst, have you tried http://www.freecommander.com/ I particularly make use of the folder compare function.

drag&drop between Windows with different credentials doesn’t work

Well, script that uses runas would work but won’t be secure. I could probably create shortcut-like AutoIt script that remembers credentials but I am not experienced with properly encrypting stuff. I can cache encrypted password easily enough but that would require script to have unpack password (unsafe) or ask for it on launch (kinda defeats purpose).

Maybe ask for masterpassword on launch and use it to encrypt credentials? What would work for you?

I suppose you developed your launcher for working with relative paths or some other need that you had in the past

I name portable stuff starting with _ so my launcher scans flash drive for such and allows launch by incremental search. As is it is now – too specific solution to be useful in general. :)

tool that detects if the WinAPI functions that capture keys are called

Tried AVZ yet? It detects bunch of API-related stuff, not sure if it falls under your needs.

exactly, Windows security is build around users and this security layer can’t be avoided. Another layer ( that not uses NTFS ) can be builded like FolderGuard that has a nice GUI to edit permissions but also uses the “user” as the central concept.
Launching programs under different users can be very secure but drag&drop between Windows with different credentials doesn’t work :(

I’m coding my launcher in PureBasic ( payware 79 euro ). Before I used AutoHotkey, that like AutoIt is very powerful for Windows programming ( nice function libraries, easy API calling ) but I tried Purebasic’s demo and wow, tiny executables, low memory usage, good debugger and pretty decent Windows libraries too.
Anyway, the important thing is “give me something that I don’t have”, I suppose you developed your launcher for working with relative paths or some other need that you had in the past, and if it works for you surely can work for others :)

About keylogger detection I want something very specific, a tool that detects if the WinAPI functions that capture keys are called because home-developed keyloggers are not detected by antivirus. But of course tools like HijackThis are very helpful.

I tried ShellEnhancer years ago but for mouse gestures, it’s really a swiss knife.
And I like szekelya’s idea about tabbed desktops/workspaces