An OS X Finder improvement/feature request...?

merovingian · December 31, 2003 9:46PM

I just thought of a reasonable improvement for the Finder in OS X. Quite frequently when I have my iPod connected, or a CD or DVD in the CD drive, and I wish to use it, I have to wait for it to spin up.

To my annoyance, the Finder locks up until the iPod's drive is at full speed and ready for use, or until the CD or DVD spins up and is ready for use.

I thought, how about Apple put the "waiting for a spin-up" code into a new thread, and make the icon for the CD, DVD, external HD, or iPod superimposed with an animated icon indicating that it is spinning up, and once it is ready for use, the separate "handle the spin-up" thread terminates, giving control back to the Finder.

This way, nothing is locked up, and you can be notified to what is happening in the 1 or 2 second delay.

What do you think? After all, the Mac OS is supposed to be intuitive and informative.

Damn I'm good...

Nah seriously, though, how does one submit a request? m.

mcq · December 31, 2003 10:34PM

http://www.apple.com/macosx/feedback/

t'hain esh kelch · January 1, 2004 6:51AM

Hardly a thing to make up a thread about...

But yes, it would be nice. And so would a multi-threaded Finder be too.

placebo · January 1, 2004 10:32AM

Quote:

Originally posted by T'hain Esh Kelch

Hardly a thing to make up a thread about... But yes, it would be nice. And so would a multi-threaded Finder be too.

It isn't already?

I, personally with my G5, never notice a freeze in the Finder when its spinning up. But I do agree that some notification should be present. How about having a little spinner where the mini-eject button usually is in the sidebar? That would be nice and subtle.

I DON'T want to see what Windows did, having a dedicated "spinning up" cursor. That's just stupid.

moogs · January 1, 2004 2:01PM

Tacos.

shetline · January 1, 2004 11:38PM

A better poll would have been one with a list of most wanted improvements to choose from. That the Finder needs improvement should hardly be in question for most Mac users, unless their use of the Finder is very casual and infrequent.

10.3.2 fixed some of Panther's network browsing issues, but not all of them. Windows networking in particular is still flaky. (This is in part a Finder issue, though it may go deeper than that.)

Finder multitasking, if it's there, sucks. It's still easy to do things that completely lock up all use of the Finder until those things are done, particularly when a network volume gets unexpectedly disconnected, or when a connection to a network volume is slow.

Finder windows and the desktop should *immediately* reflect changes to files and folders, not wait for you to click in a folder's window or the desktop for a change to be seen. This should at least work for local files, even if it isn't practical for some reason for network files. I understand that some new BSD core extension where apps can register for file system events is in the works. This might be just what the Finder needs.

I have a feeling that someone at Apple is highly resistant to this idea, but having a "refresh" option for Finder windows would be very useful -- yes, just like Windows has.

There's more I could suggest, but these improvements are right at the top of my list.

tuttle · January 2, 2004 2:22AM

Here's my list for the Finder, some of which may already be possible:

1) Never, never, never lock because of network activity.

2) There are numerous click/dragging 'quirks' that really need to be fixed

3) I want to be able to create files in a directory by right clicking. I want to be able to create a shell window in the current Finder window by hitting a button or right clicking. Or a button that toggles a Finder window to a shell window and back again.

4) I like how MS windows shows the file size in the window border when you select a file

5) Tighter spacing for icons.

6) I wish the desktop directory in open/save dialogs reflected what Finder windows are open and not just what icons are on the desktop.

7) There is no way I know of to drag an icon 'up' the current window's directory hierarchy in icon view.

bauman · January 2, 2004 2:31AM

The infamous and beloved beachball actually stems from a MO disk wait curser from NeXT (NExT? nExt? Hmmm). That was it's original intention, but since Jag, it's been transformed into a 3D glowing thingy that we love to hate.

Perhaps we just need the real beachball to please stand up. please stand up. Oh, forget it. I can't do anything coherently at 3:30 AM Jan 2. Damn hangover

mpmoriarty · January 2, 2004 4:36PM

Here's a finder feature that I was thinking about the other day...

What if Apple added an additional column to the Finder (user's could turn it on or off if they wanted to) that displayed the status of files. Let me explain...

Example #1: Let's say that you are downloading a file off the Internet. Well, the incomplete file would be visible in the Finder in the download location you specified, BUT in this STATUS column would be some type of feedback indicating that it is still downloading. This feedback could be a percentage along with your browser's icon to indicate that app is using that file.

If you clicked on these icons in the status column it would pop up a simple dialog indicating that your browser is downloading the app or something.

Example #2: You are on a network accessing files that many others are at the same time. Wouldn't it be great if there was some way to indicate whether or not another user was accessing that same file at the same time? Well in this status menu could appear an icon of a person or something. If you double clicked on this person icon, it would tell you the user's name and such.

----

I mean, the possibilities are endless and allow for much greater feedback on your files.

What do you guy's think of this idea?

Good? Bad?

Mike

buonrotto · January 2, 2004 4:44PM

I think an animated or changed state icon with useful visual feedback would help with the status business. For example, right now a person's iDisk will show a dotted line outline as the icon until the proper icon can be downloaded and displayed. While that's a bit clunky (and not something you see as much with the way Panther handles a person's iDisk), it's a start: imagine a ghosted or throbbing icon, a dotted-in icon outline or an icon badge with ghosted or a different color text for files that aren't fully downloaded, locked/in use, etc. like folders should be. I think the status can be added to the column view's file info column too and/or to the Get Info inspector.

placebo · January 2, 2004 6:01PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Tuttle

Here's my list for the Finder, some of which may already be possible:

....

4) I like how MS windows shows the file size in the window border when you select a file

Hit cmd-option-I, and you get a Get Info Inspector that changes depending on what you select.

merovingian · January 3, 2004 2:14AM

Quote:

Originally posted by shetline

Finder windows and the desktop should *immediately* reflect changes to files and folders, not wait for you to click in a folder's window or the desktop for a change to be seen.

This is a difference from OS 9, that has taken a turn for the worse. I save a file, and it appears only once I click the Desktop, (if I saved it there). It's counter-intuitive. Plus, sometimes, when I have a document open, and it is on the Desktop, and I save it, a copy of the icon appears on the Desktop, leaving two icons for the same file. It then almost instantly then removes the previous icon, and hence the icon on the Desktop representing the file has changed place. It only happens in Xcode and a couple of others for memory, but it is still wrong. m.

merovingian · January 3, 2004 2:16AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Tuttle

2) There are numerous click/dragging 'quirks' that really need to be fixed

Yes. Since Panther, the dragging of files leaves the original in its place for a split second. (Try draggind a file from the Desktop to the Trash and see what happens). This never happened in pre-Panther versions. It is also counter-intuitive. m.

merovingian · January 3, 2004 2:20AM

Quote:

Originally posted by MPMoriarty

Example #1: Let's say that you are downloading a file off the Internet. Well, the incomplete file would be visible in the Finder in the download location you specified, BUT in this STATUS column would be some type of feedback indicating that it is still downloading. This feedback could be a percentage along with your browser's icon to indicate that app is using that file.

I was thinking of a super-imposed vertical "bar" on the file's icon, which updates every half-second, say, where in each iteration, the bar gets a little more full, say 1/4, and when it's full it empties, and goes on again, until the file is complete in which case the bar is removed from the icon.

And yes, the Finder should never lock up upon the loss of network activity, etc... EVER.

I hope Apple read these threads. If they do and if they acted upon some of the suggestions here, OS X would be even more in front of its competitors. m.

relic · January 4, 2004 12:36PM

One request,

Tear everything out that has to do with Classic from my Unix box!

Thank you for your time.

cosmonut · January 4, 2004 7:53PM

I'd request GUI text customization. I'd love to be able to have more control over the font, size, color, drop shadows, etc. on text in the parts of the Finder that it's not available.

vox barbara · January 5, 2004 2:57PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Merovingian

I just thought of a reasonable improvement for the Finder in OS X. ...

even it is utterly embarrassing: i want to have the option putting the trash bin back to my desktop, yes. (no 3rd party please!)

in general i feel just fine with X.

best

xool · January 8, 2004 10:37PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Merovingian

Yes. Since Panther, the dragging of files leaves the original in its place for a split second. (Try draggind a file from the Desktop to the Trash and see what happens). This never happened in pre-Panther versions. It is also counter-intuitive. m.

This problem is especially problematic when duplicating files over network shares. Sometimes I hit command-D and get an error message that a file of that name already exists and the duplication fails. You can momentarily see the new file appear and dissapear. Subsequent duplications fail the same way. My "solution": copy the file to another directory, rename it, and return it to the original location.

Lame.

An OS X Finder improvement/feature request...?

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