Choosy kills the idea of a 'default' browser for links

A system plug-in called Choosy is trying to change the way people are opening links on their computer. This small Mac OS X application gives you the option to choose which browser you'd like to open up any link with sans having to ever set a "default" browser.

In my case my default browser is Firefox, but it's not always the best solution. Sometimes I'm opening up a link for a site I know will work better in Safari or IE (like my work e-mail). With Choosy installed, clicking that link simply gives you a pop-up of whatever browsers you have installed--giving you complete control of what application should load.

The tool's real power is that it can be set to open a link in a browser you've already got running, or from one on your list of favorites. All of your installed browsers can be re-ordered with the ones you use the most front and center. In the example video (embedded below) you can see this comes in pretty handy when you've got close to a dozen installed on your machine.

Choosy Walk Through from George Brocklehurst on Vimeo.

Choosy is currently free and in beta. Upcoming features for the app include giving you the option to set specific domains to open in certain browsers, and multidisplay support.

[via Lifehacker]

[jeffyablon]

Are you kidding?



Sounds like a solution in search of a problem, if you ask me. I'm as geeky as anyone (really!), but I have ZERO interest in thinking about which browser will handle a piece of content before I open it. And I'd wager that applies to almst everyone...geeks included.



[CNET editors' note: URL removed]

[srhoda]

I have to completely agree with Jeff. The LAST thing I want is a pop-up asking me which browser I wan't to open.

[admin44]

Before jumping to conclusions, I suspect that the real power behind Choosy is that you can set individual default behavior tied to specific links. In other words, if I like Google opening up in Safari but Weather.com opening up in Firefox, I suspect that Choosy will allow me to set this as my default behavior and I won't have to deal with a pop-up for domains that I set up this way. If it doesn't work like this, then it really ought to!

[abc_123_99-xyz]

I would love to have this capability in Windows with the option to toggle it on or off. Plus I would like to be able to open the link in a new window or a new tab in an existing window, i.e., select where the link is opened. I have been thinking about this for some time and hoping our open source folk would possibly provide such a capability.

[DennisMcCK]

I'm still trying to figure out where "with sans" came from. "Sans" means "without" all by itself.