Wishful thinking: customizable contextual menus

One really powerful feature in Mac OS X that many users don’t know about or know how to use is Automator and its easy integration with the Finder. In the Automator, you can create custom workflows that you can then add to the Finder’s contextual menu. For instance, I have one that sets the selected image as the desktop wallpaper, a very simple one. I haven’t found an instance where I could use a long, complicated workflow, but if I ever do, it will be a timesaver compared to doing the workflow bit by bit by hand.

The flaw with this integration is that these commands are hidden within a submenu of a submenu in the contextual menu. To set an image as my desktop picture, I right click on it, and select More > Automator > Set as Desktop Picture. It still beats opening System Preferences, going to Desktop and Screen Savers, adding the correct folder to the source list, and choosing a photo, but I’d rather be able to right click and choose “Set as Desktop Pictures” right from the menu.

To me, the Finder’s contextual menu is the perfect menu to be completely customizable. In the Finder, the contextual menu is always right there to perform tasks upon the current selected file. I should be able to both choose the tasks I use the most, and create new tasks in Automator that I’d like to use to have them just a right click away.

Would you use this if it were a feature of Snow Leopard? Sound off in the comments below!