For years, I’ve been trying to find a good application that’ll let me open a set of windows and applications, specifically for projects that I develop.

For example, say I have a project where I have two URLs open in tabs in a browser, a folder (project) opened in TextMate (text editor), a terminal window available, a Finder window or two open to the project’s root, and maybe a Transmit (FTP) window open.

What I’d love is to have an icon that I can double click that opens all of these up for me, ready to go.

I’ve tried using Mac’s Spaces in the past, but it didn’t quite do what I wanted. Also I’ve tried a few other apps that appear to make Finder window-sets, but again, not what I want.

Finally, the other day, it came to me. I can’t believe it took so long to figure it out.

It’s as easy as whipping up a quick bash script, then calling that script from the terminal. Add to this an Apple Script or two, and voila! Project window sets.

Sure, a clear caveat is that you’d have to write a script for each project, but when compared to manually opening all windows and apps and navigating to all the correct spots, it’s still a time-saver.