Am I missing something or is the F3 button in Mavericks not a good switching experience?
I do agree with your Launchpad comment and just drag Application folder into the right side of the Dock (settings Sort by Name, Display as Folder, View Contents as List) along with Utilities, Documents, and Downloads (Sort by Date Added).
Why use Launchpad or any kind of mouse picking for Applications/Utilities? You already know what you want to launch, and a letter or two typed in to Spotlight will get it.
I do agree with your Launchpad comment and just drag Application folder into the right side of the Dock (settings Sort by Name, Display as Folder, View Contents as List) along with Utilities, Documents, and Downloads (Sort by Date Added).