Brisk Menu – An Efficient Menu for the MATE Desktop

Brisk Menu is an open-source menu designed for the Mate desktop environment which usually ships with Solus OS as its default menu applet. That notwithstanding, Brisk has functionalities on its own e.g. a built-in search feature that simulates the Windows start menu while still providing optimum performance.

It features an adaptive UI which is themeable and put pressure on your battery and memory that is friendly and this comes to me as no surprise especially after learning that Brisk-menu is a collaborative project between Solus and Ubuntu MATE.

Features in Brisk Menu

• Freeware: Brisk Menu is free for everyone using the Mate Desktop to download and use.
• A fully customizable and scriptable UI.
• Favorites list.
• Swift performance.
• Support for Hotkey menu action.
• Support for desktop actions e.g. context menus for .desktop actions like open incognito mode.
• Filter app and file lists via categories.
• Session/screensaver controls.
• Support for Drag & drop when working with launchers.
• Sidebar launcher support.
• Aesthetic options are available as GTK3 + CSS styling options.

Brisk Menu developers plan on bringing more changes in the future, some of which include updating the Settings UI to control further visual aspects (labels/icons/options) and improving the style of several window components.

To install Brisk Menu, add the following PPA and install it.

$ sudo apt-add-repository ppa:flexiondotorg/brisk-menu
$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install mate-applet-brisk-menu

Yes you can use the Super (Windows) key to activate Brisk Menu but only after you make a little edit to your hotkey list.

Enter the following command into your terminal when you’re done installing Brisk Menu.

$ gsettings set com.solus-project.brisk-menu hot-key 'Super_L'

What do you think about Brisk Menu? Drop your two cents in the comments section below.