Here is a quick and dirty summary of what I found when I compared a few macro/clip managers. It doesn't purport to be exhaustive.

My test was to load each one with 4 "macros". Some programs call them macros, others shortcuts and others hotkeys. Whatever the terminology, the task was to retrieve a simple text based macro and paste it into a text field as quickly and economically as possible.

I appreciate that many of these programs offer much greater functionality, but at this stage I'm not interested in folder hierarchy, automatic sorting etc ... just pasting standard data with as few key strokes as possible. With some of these programs you would be cracking a nut with a sledgehammer if that's all you used them for.

The 4 text macros were 2 email addresses, a telephone number and a 7-letter password. Very simple stuff.

I monitored the PC resources being used by each program after a default installation on Win XP and then again after I loaded the 4 macros.

[1] All Chars 3.6.2 (free); Resource usage 3680K (default install)/3912K (with 4 macros); you type registered text commands preceded by a forward slash to call a macro.
[2] AutoHotKey 1.0.40.11 (free); Resources 588K/1496K; you type registered text commands to call a macro.
[3] ClipCache Plus 2.9 ($19.95); Resources 836K/5100K; you can set user defined individual hotkey commands (eg Ctrl-Shift-P for a password)
[4] ClipMagic 3.1 ($29.99); Resources 3428K/5216K; you can set user defined individual hotkey commands
[5] ClipMate 7.0.6 ($34.95); Resources 7328K/13008K; it does not have hotkey support for individual clips, but uses a shortcut system
[6] KeyText 2.25 ($25); Resources 3464K/6492K; you can set user defined individual hotkey commands
[7] Macro Express 3.5e ($39.95); Resources 6928K/7552K; you can set user defined individual hotkey commands
[8] Quick Keys 1.00.00.0137 ($14.95); Resources 5672K/6368K; you type registered text commands to call a macro
[9] Parallaxis WinClip 3.2.2.30 ($24.95); Resources 7228K/12296K; does not have hotkey functionality but uses a "personal card" menu system
[10] X2Net SmartBoard ($27.95); I own a licence for this but didn't retest. It is a powerful clipboard extender with a PC overhead similar to ClipMate.

The variation is interesting with some programs (such as WinClip and ClipMate) being quite heavy on resources. ClipCache seems to be very economical for what you get, though the system usage starts to rise steeply once you load it with macros.

Based on my very limited criteria, AutoHotKey would seem to be a clear winner in the resource and simplicity stakes, and it comes at the right price! I can't vouch for its stability but will put it through its paces over the next few weeks.

Hope the above is useful to someone.

Thanks for the various ideas.

Jack

Jack,

Thanks for the wrap-up; it's very useful as a starting point regardless of the actual application one has in mind.

Your findings on resource use seem to confirm my own experience, about a year ago, when searching for a clip manager. I found ClipMate the heavier and X2Net Smartboard not far back.

I ended up with a Smartboard license because I required scripting for what I had in mind (a sort of poor man's Zoot auto-classification of useful text clippings). In practice, I never used it. The program was slow, as some programs based on the .NET framework tend to be, even on my faster machine.

I find that the heavy resource use in a clipboard manager is a serious drawback because, as copy/pasting is such a regular activity, it interferes with most other applications. Add to this the reluctance of most developers to provide a global hotkey to switch their clip managers on/off.

I'm eagerly awaiting the release of ClipCache 3 to try it out; I didn't have much patience with the Beta version. But I admit that my eagerness probably represents CRIMP more than actual need. In practice I ended up using Brainstorm with MagicPaste as my clip manager, which suits me fine;again, the only thing I missed was a hotkey.

alx

Jack,

I think you saved some of us a lot of time! Instead of downloading, installing, testing (and then uninstalling!) several programs, I simply followed your choice. I found AutoHotKey to be quite powerful and comprehensive piece of software. Many thanks for your job!

Wojciech