Although I'm not Apple's greatest fan, one of my favourite things about OSX is the shortcut bar along the bottom. It's a great place to launch frequently used shortcuts from without having to drill down into launch menus.
Thankfully, it's available for the PC, too!
There are many iterations available, for free or paid for, but my favourite by far is Rocketdock by punklabs. It's lightweight, easy, and discreet. Give it a go!
