KN Launcher

KN Launcher is a simple application that facilitates shortcuts to up to seven programs at a time. By default, it provides access to Windows built-in tools: Wordpad, Calculator, Paint, Command Prompt, Notepad, Windows Explorer, and Magnifier.

Outdated, yet functional quick launcher

Before proceeding any further, you should know that it hasn't been updated for a long time, and you are likely to experience compatibility issues on newer Windows editions.
After a fast setup procedure that shouldn't give you any trouble, KN Launcher gets launched in the systray. It doesn't show any balloon messages, so it doesn't interrupt your regular PC activity.
You can bring up its main window by double-clicking the icon; it's quite obvious that the utility's outdated by taking one look at this frame.

Remove default shortcuts to create new ones

It's possible to run a program by clicking on its icon, edit command lines, change icons, open a program's location in your default file explorer, as well as remove items from the list to add custom applications by just indicating their launcher file. The app automatically hides afterward.
As far as configuration settings are concerned, you can instruct the tool to autorun at every Windows startup, keep its frame on top of other windows, hide right after launch, or stop auto-hiding. Plus, you can adjust the main window's transparency level and default position on the screen.

Evaluation and observations

It had minimal impact on the machine's performance in our tests, using low CPU and RAM. On the other hand, it started popping up error dialogs continuously until we ended its process from Task Manager. Moreover, we failed in our attempt to modify command lines; the app didn't remember the new ones.

Conclusion

KN Launcher is a fairly easy-to-use quick launcher for a limited number of programs to run. However, the interface needs a makeover and we cannot overlook the stability issues we've encountered.