Though I don’t get these guys’ version numbering, one thing is for sure: the Alfred team is not leaving any gas in the tank while developing this app. They are working hard to build the fastest, easiest-to-use, and most-feature-rich application launcher for Mac there is.
The latest beta (which is about to be submitted to the Mac App Store?) now includes global hotkeys, and global hotkeys are great. It’s a feature of Quicksilver that I used all the time but that LaunchBar does not have. So when I switched to LaunchBar in 2009 I wrote a few AppleScripts and now use FastScripts to run certain triggers and launch certain apps globally.
I personally am still using LaunchBar and FastScripts, but Alfred could go toe to toe with them now. It’s a very good app. and if you’re not already in a relationship with an application launcher then I’d easily recommend Alfred.
I’m getting ahead of myself here, but if I had to sum up what I see as the main difference between Alfred and LaunchBar it’s that Alfred appeals to a broader range of nerds, and LaunchBar appeals to a smaller range of persnickety power users.