Choosy helps those with Browser Commitment Phobia
Are you the type of person who just can't settle down? Do you find your needs just can't be met by any one of the multiple options available to you? Can you even remember how many different browsers you've been with? If that sounds like you, you should be glad to hear that Choosy has left beta.
We've mentioned Choosy before but in case you missed it during the beta cycle, here's what Choosy does for you: Choosy is a preference pane which lets you keep your browser options open.
Do you love Safari, but sometimes find that you need to use Firefox for a particular website? Are you a fan of Fluid (which lets you create site-specific browsers), or you want all your RSS links to open in your personalized Google Reader browser?
When you select a link, instead of your default browser, a Choosy window will appear; you can configure it to show all of your available browsers, or just the ones which are currently running. Or you can set a default to use except if you hold down the shift key, for example.
That latter functionality is what led me to give Choosy another look. I tried it during the beta period and found that most of the time I wanted links to open in Safari, but there were some I wanted to open in Firefox or Fluid. While having to choose a browser for every link proved to be too distracting, the 1.0 version allows you to create very precise rules.
For example, I can setup Safari to be my default browser, but if I click a link while holding down the shift/command/alt key, then that link will automatically be opened in Firefox.
My favorite rule? If Web address contains constantcontact.com then use Firefox.Constant Contact is a great service, but they are very aggressive about which web browsers they support. Now I can stop thinking about this, and if I come across a Constant Contact link, it will automatically open it in Firefox.
Do you have a Fluid SSB for Facebook or Twitter? If so, you can make sure that all of those links open in your site-specific browser.
Choosy is shareware. You can try it free and without any limitation for 45 days. In my experience that will be plenty of time to decide if Choosy is the right choice for you. If it is, you can register it for $12 and continue to enjoy surfing the web with multiple partners... err, browsers.
