Pros of oh-my-posh

• Cross-platform support (Windows, macOS, Linux)
• Highly customizable with a wide range of themes and segments
• Active development and frequent updates

Cons of oh-my-posh

• Primarily focused on command-line prompts, not a full launcher
• Steeper learning curve for customization
• May require additional setup for full functionality in some shells

Code Comparison

oh-my-posh configuration example:

{
  "$schema": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/JanDeDobbeleer/oh-my-posh/main/themes/schema.json",
  "blocks": [
    {
      "type": "prompt",
      "alignment": "left",
      "segments": [
        {
          "type": "path",
          "style": "powerline",
          "powerline_symbol": "\uE0B0",
          "foreground": "#100e23",
          "background": "#91ddff",
          "properties": {
            "style": "folder"
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Wox plugin example:

from wox import Wox

class HelloWorld(Wox):
    def query(self, query):
        return [
            {"Title": "Hello World", "SubTitle": "Query: {}".format(query), "IcoPath": "Images/app.png", "JsonRPCAction": {"method": "take_action", "parameters": ["{}".format(query)], "dontHideAfterAction": False}}
        ]

    def take_action(self, query):
        self.shell_run("echo Hello World {}".format(query))

if __name__ == "__main__":
    HelloWorld()

Pros of ConEmu

• Advanced terminal emulator with extensive customization options
• Supports multiple console applications in a single window
• Offers a wide range of features for power users and developers

Cons of ConEmu

• Steeper learning curve due to its complexity
• Primarily focused on Windows, limiting cross-platform compatibility
• May be overwhelming for users seeking a simple launcher solution

Code Comparison

ConEmu configuration example:

<key name="Software\ConEmu">
    <value name="ColorTable00" type="dword" data="00362b00"/>
    <value name="ColorTable01" type="dword" data="00423607"/>
    <value name="FontSize" type="dword" data="00000012"/>
</key>

Wox configuration example:

{
  "theme": "Dark",
  "hotkey": "Alt+Space",
  "plugins": [
    {
      "ID": "CEA0FDFC6D3B4085823D60DC76F28855",
      "Name": "Web Searches",
      "Disabled": false
    }
  ]
}

While ConEmu focuses on terminal emulation and console management, Wox is primarily a launcher application. ConEmu's configuration is typically more complex, reflecting its broader feature set, while Wox's configuration is simpler and more focused on launcher-specific settings.

Pros of Flow.Launcher

• Actively maintained and regularly updated
• Better performance and stability
• Improved plugin system with more features

Cons of Flow.Launcher

• Smaller community and fewer available plugins
• Some users report occasional compatibility issues with certain plugins

Code Comparison

Wox:

public class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        Wox.App.App app = new Wox.App.App();
        app.Run();
    }
}

Flow.Launcher:

public class Program
{
    [STAThread]
    public static void Main()
    {
        using (var mutex = new Mutex(true, "Flow.Launcher"))
        {
            if (mutex.WaitOne(TimeSpan.Zero, true))
            {
                App.Main();
            }
        }
    }
}

The main difference in the code snippets is that Flow.Launcher implements a mutex to ensure only one instance of the application is running at a time, while Wox does not have this feature in its main program entry point.

Both projects are launcher applications for Windows, but Flow.Launcher is a fork of Wox that aims to improve upon the original. Flow.Launcher offers better performance and more frequent updates, but Wox has a larger community and more available plugins due to its longer existence.

Pros of Hain

• Built with modern web technologies (Electron), making it more accessible for web developers to contribute
• Offers a plugin system with hot-reload capability, allowing for easier development and testing of plugins
• Provides a sleek, minimalist user interface with smooth animations

Cons of Hain

• Less mature project with fewer plugins available compared to Wox
• May have higher resource usage due to being built on Electron
• Development appears to be less active, with fewer recent updates

Code Comparison

Hain plugin example:

module.exports = (context) => {
  const app = context.app;
  const shell = context.shell;

  function search(query, res) {
    res.add({
      id: 'hello',
      title: `Hello, ${query}!`,
      desc: 'Select to open Google'
    });
  }

  function execute(id, payload) {
    if (id === 'hello') {
      shell.openExternal('https://google.com');
    }
  }

  return { search, execute };
};

Wox plugin example:

from wox import Wox

class HelloWorld(Wox):
    def query(self, query):
        return [{
            "Title": "Hello World",
            "SubTitle": "Query: {}".format(query),
            "IcoPath": "Images/app.png",
            "JsonRPCAction": {
                "method": "open_url",
                "parameters": ["https://www.google.com"]
            }
        }]

    def open_url(self, url):
        import webbrowser
        webbrowser.open(url)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    HelloWorld()