Several of my friends have made the switch from PC to Mac for their home computers, so here’s the first of a few tips on how to get the most out of it:

Get the application launcher called Quicksilver.The download is at http://www.blacktree.com/. Wikipedia has a good entry about it with some additional background information. Once installed, I suggest updating the application launcher shortcut to the Apple Key + Spacebar combo. To do this, you’ll need to first make sure that the Spotlight shortcut doesn’t conflict. Go into System Preferences > Spotlight and update “Spotlight menu keyboard shortcut” to use ctrl + Spacebar (it looks like ^ Space). Also inside System Preferences > Spotlight, make sure that “Spotlight window keyboard shortcut” is not using the Apple Key + Spacebar combo. I am using alt/option + Spacebar for this one. Save the new settings and exit System Preferences. Now, you are ready to set the Quicksilver hotkey. Open the Quicksilver app. In the top right corner of the app, there is a down arrow. Click that to expand a menu. In the menu, navigate to Quicksilver > Preferences. Once in the preferences menu of Quicksilver, click on the Command item in the left column of options. Within the Command section, you’ll see a HotKey Activation area. Click inside of that and hit the Apple Key followed by the Spacebar. Click the red close button. You are done configuring the shortcut.

Now, to reap the rewards of all this setup work, press the Apple Key followed by the Spacebar. Start typing the name of a program you like to use, say iTunes. As you type, Quicksilver suggests which program you are looking for and allows you to open it by pressing the return key.

Now, the challenge is to learn something new that you can do with Quicksilver, and post about it here in the comments. I’ve head it can be used for much more than an application launcher, but haven’t spent too much time with it. Let me know how you use it.