I'm getting frustrated by having to open Nautilus and then having to browse to the files I need. I'd like to have a launcher and a good [indexing] search tool so that I can bring it up and as see an offer of applications, files, and so on, that match my criteria (or something like it). Gnome DO is somehow clumsy, and tracker tool never produces any results (it doesn't seem to index anything).

I'm open to suggestions and need your help!