The name of Shutter made me think that I was about to test an application that schedules PC power options at a defined time.
Instead, I discovered a simple yet feature-rich task scheduling utility that makes it possible to execute certain actions when specific events occur. Of course, this includes scheduling system shutdowns, but its functionality is much more extensive than that, as described below.
Create a list of events that trigger a list of actions
Shutter greets you with a rather simple interface with a main window elegantly split into two main sections, one for events and the other for the actions they should trigger.
Intuitively enough, Shutter’s workflow means first adding events that occur and alter the state of the system or a process, then configuring the actions to be executed one by one.
The application does not start to monitor the system unless you hit the ‘Start’ button, so make sure you pay attention to the order of actions and the logic of the events. For the action list to be initiated, the events must be triggered according to the selected logic. By default, ‘ALL’ the events must occur to execute all actions.
Schedule PC shutdown and many more actions
There are various events that you can add to the list. Shutter provides a countdown and a timer, a weekly scheduler, and events related to CPU, network and hard-disk usage thresholds, user inactivity, the battery level, the size of a file, a ping command response, running processes, detecting certain windows or opening the laptop lid, and more.
The assortment of actions to execute is just as variate. All the power actions are there, so you can configure Shutter to shutdown, reboot, lock, sleep or hibernate the machine, or log off the current user. Also, it can turn off the screen, toggle the screen saver, or take a screenshot.
Displaying an on-screen message, playing a sound, closing a window, running a program or opening a file are also actions that you can schedule. Shutter can also run processes, close applications and even restart the execution of the event list in a loop.
A scheduling tool that can take over certain repetitive tasks
If you are looking for a tool to schedule computer shutdown when the machine enters idle mode or when a larger download is completed, Shutter might be it but know that you are getting so much more.
It provides a task scheduler and an automation tool altogether, which can execute some repetitive operations without your intervention, thus easing your work and improving your productivity.