There are several utilities that will do this - the one I use on Windows
2000 is BarLaunch. <http://www.hi-ho.ne.jp/kyagi/enu/> The last version I
downloaded and installed was v7.11 (which was freeware). The current
version is 8.0 and is $15 shareware. (The README.TXT on the site says $20).
It gives you a sort-of Quick Launch Bar that can hold 'groups.' If you
click on a group, you can open several applications and documents all at
once.