[brianloveswords]

Oh I completely disagree about the Spotlight menu being as fast as Quicksilver for launching apps but even besides that Quicksilver can do so much more. You can: set global shortcuts for damn near anything you'd want to do; add a line to a text file (for quick note taking); send a quick email; move files...

And for the Quicktime+Perian vs VLC thing, Quicktime will be decent enough for xvid or divx (though you'll take a small performance hit for it), but if you use MKV you will definitely want to use VLC -- Quicktime doesn't give you the option of switching languages or embeded subtitles, and the performance is awful.

But I do agree with the Transmission recommendation, it's really a great BT client: clean, not nearly as bloated as Azureus. Unless you really need some of Azureus' more advanced functions, you'll find Transmission can cover everything you want.

[bouncingsoul]

Well, my main suggestion was to use the tools that satisfy the needs you have. Spotlight app launching is fast enough for me. Maybe someday with a larger index it won't be, but that isn't the case right now.

I've never encountered an mkv file, so that Perian doesn't add support for it doesn't bother me.

If Spotlight is slow for you and you need to play mkv files then use the tools you need. But I don't think it's necessary to recommend an M24 tank because it can handle off-road and take out enemy road blocks to someone who'd be perfectly satisfied with a normal sedan for their morning commute.

[far33d]

I hated spotlight on 10.4, but with my new machine with 10.5 I've found spotlight good enough that I haven't bothered downloading QS.