I had tried several times to work with the unified interface app, QuickSilver. I was never quite able to make it work for me … about a year ago, it was just completely unstable on my PowerBook and I gave up. I went back at it today on my MacBook Pro and am finally seeing what all the excitement is really about. A little flick of the fingers and you can do just about anything right from the keyboard without touching the mouse, track pad, dock, or whatever.
Since I am a newbie with this stuff, it is probably best to point you around the web for the ins and outs related to QuickSilver. Just a fantastic application that is already saving me time and from taking my hands off the keyboard. I am starting to collect resources at del.icio.us under the tag, quicksilver. Might be worth a look for all the Mac users who are as late to the party as I am.
A quick keyboard combo makes a small interface appear that gives you access to applications, actions, and literally everything on you Mac. Amazing.
I had the same initial experience as you but have yet to go back to it. I am more of a mouse person… but I do see the utility in it. I am so much of a mouse person that I don’t use hot keys in Warcraft though… which makes my student developer look at me funny as he can’t believe how fast I am without using hotkeys 😉