Colin, did you fix this yet?
Dunno how dirty this is, but you could to it with a VBScript. For example, create a new file called "multi.vbs" and stick these lines in it:
Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
WshShell.Run("C:\Progra~1\Winamp\winamp.exe")
WshShell.Run("C:\Corel\Draw70\programs\photopnt.exe")
When you run it, it'll fire up both apps. By default, this doesn't wait for one app to close before proceeding with the rest of the script.
Also (and you can check this in Task Manager), the only extra processes running when the script is finished are the ones you fired up.
You might not have the actual apps in my example, but I used those to illustrate the fact that you have to use the old 8 character folder names - "Program Files" doesn't work, you gotta use "progra~1". To find out the short names, just use dir /x in a cmd window.
BTW, if you've got Norton AV running, it might complain the first time you run a VBS. You can just authorise the script and it'll not complain in the future, unless you edit the file.
</nerd>
You can tell I was bored this morning.