You're only seeing one screenshot, a bit hard to judge a program on just that. Currently two developers are trying to build a better Finder and both projects (Pathfinder and FileRun) look exciting, I for one am going to give both a fair try. Please don't knock it until you've tried it.
I think it's overcluttered and fugly. Way more information is presented than is needed, or IMHO, wanted. When was the last time you wanted to go to your Mac HD -> Users -> folder? Which of your documents is _not_ in your home folder? Which of your apps is _not_ in your Applications folder? The point of a UI is to abstract the info in a meaningful way. I say this as someone who is very comfortable on the command line. A UI should be the opposite of the command line.
Thank you, i love the finder as it is, despite some speed issues.
I love Simplicity. OSes, which offer too many decisions in their
UI are almost always frustrating, say Windows anyone.
I don't like the current implementation of Spotlight
in the Finder too. Because Finder/Spotlight distracts
your workflow more than it helps. Perhaps just me?
Both PathFinder 4 and FileRun will allow you to swich features on and off, thus making the interface as simple or cluttered as you want. I love the elegance of the current Finder as well but I find it too simple at times, giving not as much feedback or information as I want, that's where PF4 and Filerun will come in.
(not that I use the Finder all that much anymore thanks to Launchbar /Quicksilver!)
Both PathFinder 4 and FileRun will allow you to swich features on and off, thus making the interface as simple or cluttered as you want. I love the elegance of the current Finder as well but I find it too simple at times, giving not as much feedback or information as I want, that's where PF4 and Filerun will come in.
(not that I use the Finder all that much anymore thanks to Launchbar /Quicksilver!)
Great...so PathFinder 4 and FileRun are definitely for you...but for 99.99% of people that don't care or know what a file system is or that the disk is 'read/write' or 'read-only'...having this info displayed 24/7 or even toggleable is overkill.
I know you (Macanoid) are not hoping the Finder to become a PF or FileRun clone, but to those that may be thinking it, think again.
Both PathFinder and FileRun (I'm really sick of CompoundNamesWithCapsInTheMiddleOfThem) make the mistake of having too many frames within frames, which makes them looked a lot more lcuttered than they have to be. As for the ancillary info about read/write access and other info, it can be OK to have small icons for this available or maybe even as a rollover, but not necessarily the default for the user.
What I'd rather like is a more heads-up style of inspector or dashboard (the Motion kind, not the widget kind), a kind of smarter contextual info panel in the window perhaps or floating. I think there's still just a lot of clicking and sifting through a lot of places to get the info you want about a file, what you don't want to see about a file, etc. The whole make-it-an0-option mantra is self defeating because it's a game of diminishing returns. That is, at point point there are so many options to go through and configure that it's too cumbersome to bother or figure out. Options are good to a point, but they become a burden to the user. I'd prefer a more dynamic display of this info that can be put out of the way and recalled easily, getting more info at a click and removing info just as easily. I would question the wisdom of a la carte optionsand instead think about grouping kinds of info together to reduce clicks and legwork from the user.
Even more importantly, there isn't a place to add or change this metadata within any of these Finder type apps. Wouldn't it be nice if all that metadata were presented as easily as the "fixed" file info, and were editable in place rather than in some dialog or sheet?
I think the tabs thing is not ideal, but there should be better/easier ways to handle bulk operations and multiple-path moves and copies, comparative looks at files, etc. I think a lot of people are looking for multiple files and wanting to do things with more than one file at a time that no file browser out there properly addresses right now.
Gon; why does it suck? Just saying it sucks isn't exactly doing it for me.
BuonRotto; Pathfinder can be customised so that it looks and works minimalistic, just like the "official" Finder. But, I think they should have made Pathfinder act minimalistic and make all the bells and whistles preference options, not vice-versa.
Gon; why does it suck? Just saying it sucks isn't exactly doing it for me.
For starters, it replaced my desktop with its own, including a trashcan, and it seemed to randomly revert back to those settings after I had changed them from the preferences.
Apart from that, it was just too clunky, bloated and big, and had most of the bad sides of Finder. I want a visible, drag-and-droppable, springloaded path, and then I want to see lots of files and data per square centimeter. Both Path Finder and the Finder waste space like there's no tomorrow.
I am new to mac so this feature probably exists and I just don't know it. When I find a file for instance via Spotlight, I want to be able to go back into the folder or directory that contains it. On Windows there is a button with a picture of a folder and an Up arrow. I wish there was a button like that in the Finder.
Yeah, I poorly explained my problem. After I reveal it, I can't figure out how to go to the folder containing it. The back button doesn't do it and there is no "Up" button.
Yeah, I poorly explained my problem. After I reveal it, I can't figure out how to go to the folder containing it. The back button doesn't do it and there is no "Up" button.
On the top bar in the Finder, there should be the name of the folder containing that file (and if no folder contains it, then the directory containing that file) - Command-Click on it to get a drop down list of the path. Click on the one you want to go to.
Yeah, I poorly explained my problem. After I reveal it, I can't figure out how to go to the folder containing it. The back button doesn't do it and there is no "Up" button.
if i do a search from a finder window, the results show up, if I click once on any of the results- the path is listed at the bottom of the finder window(all the folders in the path) I can click on any of those folders to go to them.
well, the trash can is the fail-safe for that...ooops! I needed that, Oh, OK just restore from trash.
And for the record, other OSs warn you the first time you use [del] that "the item(s) will be moved to trash/recycle bin" and have a "dont warn me again" check box to disable the warning if you wish.
That doesn't work so well when you're getting files off networked windows drives. It auto-deletes without moving to the trash.
I think it's overcluttered and fugly. Way more information is presented than is needed, or IMHO, wanted. When was the last time you wanted to go to your Mac HD -> Users -> folder? Which of your documents is _not_ in your home folder? Which of your apps is _not_ in your Applications folder? The point of a UI is to abstract the info in a meaningful way. I say this as someone who is very comfortable on the command line. A UI should be the opposite of the command line.
I agree. The Inspector Panel needs tabs within it starting with basic information to an advanced panel view to dig deep into information for those that need it.
On the top bar in the Finder, there should be the name of the folder containing that file (and if no folder contains it, then the directory containing that file) - Command-Click on it to get a drop down list of the path. Click on the one you want to go to.
Perfect! Thank you for revealing this functionality, it was bugging me that OSX would lack something simple like this.
Comments
Originally posted by 1337_5L4Xx0R
I think it's overcluttered and fugly. Way more information is presented than is needed, or IMHO, wanted. When was the last time you wanted to go to your Mac HD -> Users -> folder? Which of your documents is _not_ in your home folder? Which of your apps is _not_ in your Applications folder? The point of a UI is to abstract the info in a meaningful way. I say this as someone who is very comfortable on the command line. A UI should be the opposite of the command line.
Thank you, i love the finder as it is, despite some speed issues.
I love Simplicity. OSes, which offer too many decisions in their
UI are almost always frustrating, say Windows anyone.
I don't like the current implementation of Spotlight
in the Finder too. Because Finder/Spotlight distracts
your workflow more than it helps. Perhaps just me?
(not that I use the Finder all that much anymore thanks to Launchbar /Quicksilver!)
Originally posted by macanoid?
Both PathFinder 4 and FileRun will allow you to swich features on and off, thus making the interface as simple or cluttered as you want. I love the elegance of the current Finder as well but I find it too simple at times, giving not as much feedback or information as I want, that's where PF4 and Filerun will come in.
(not that I use the Finder all that much anymore thanks to Launchbar /Quicksilver!)
Great...so PathFinder 4 and FileRun are definitely for you...but for 99.99% of people that don't care or know what a file system is or that the disk is 'read/write' or 'read-only'...having this info displayed 24/7 or even toggleable is overkill.
I know you (Macanoid) are not hoping the Finder to become a PF or FileRun clone, but to those that may be thinking it, think again.
What I'd rather like is a more heads-up style of inspector or dashboard (the Motion kind, not the widget kind), a kind of smarter contextual info panel in the window perhaps or floating. I think there's still just a lot of clicking and sifting through a lot of places to get the info you want about a file, what you don't want to see about a file, etc. The whole make-it-an0-option mantra is self defeating because it's a game of diminishing returns. That is, at point point there are so many options to go through and configure that it's too cumbersome to bother or figure out. Options are good to a point, but they become a burden to the user. I'd prefer a more dynamic display of this info that can be put out of the way and recalled easily, getting more info at a click and removing info just as easily. I would question the wisdom of a la carte optionsand instead think about grouping kinds of info together to reduce clicks and legwork from the user.
Even more importantly, there isn't a place to add or change this metadata within any of these Finder type apps. Wouldn't it be nice if all that metadata were presented as easily as the "fixed" file info, and were editable in place rather than in some dialog or sheet?
I think the tabs thing is not ideal, but there should be better/easier ways to handle bulk operations and multiple-path moves and copies, comparative looks at files, etc. I think a lot of people are looking for multiple files and wanting to do things with more than one file at a time that no file browser out there properly addresses right now.
MacGadget
A short sample movie of what it does here
Originally posted by macanoid?
Another cool, but very useful (IMHO) Finder add-on has just been released:
MacGadget
A short sample movie of what it does here
Woohoo ... Vista style transparant windows ...
BuonRotto; Pathfinder can be customised so that it looks and works minimalistic, just like the "official" Finder. But, I think they should have made Pathfinder act minimalistic and make all the bells and whistles preference options, not vice-versa.
Originally posted by dacloo
Gon; why does it suck? Just saying it sucks isn't exactly doing it for me.
For starters, it replaced my desktop with its own, including a trashcan, and it seemed to randomly revert back to those settings after I had changed them from the preferences.
Apart from that, it was just too clunky, bloated and big, and had most of the bad sides of Finder. I want a visible, drag-and-droppable, springloaded path, and then I want to see lots of files and data per square centimeter. Both Path Finder and the Finder waste space like there's no tomorrow.
Originally posted by john.outwater
When I find a file for instance via Spotlight, I want to be able to go back into the folder or directory that contains it.
Command-R or Right-click-->Reveal in Finder
Originally posted by Endymion
Command-R or Right-click-->Reveal in Finder
Yeah, I poorly explained my problem. After I reveal it, I can't figure out how to go to the folder containing it. The back button doesn't do it and there is no "Up" button.
Originally posted by john.outwater
Yeah, I poorly explained my problem. After I reveal it, I can't figure out how to go to the folder containing it. The back button doesn't do it and there is no "Up" button.
On the top bar in the Finder, there should be the name of the folder containing that file (and if no folder contains it, then the directory containing that file) - Command-Click on it to get a drop down list of the path. Click on the one you want to go to.
Originally posted by john.outwater
Yeah, I poorly explained my problem. After I reveal it, I can't figure out how to go to the folder containing it. The back button doesn't do it and there is no "Up" button.
if i do a search from a finder window, the results show up, if I click once on any of the results- the path is listed at the bottom of the finder window(all the folders in the path) I can click on any of those folders to go to them.
Originally posted by a_greer
well, the trash can is the fail-safe for that...ooops! I needed that, Oh, OK just restore from trash.
And for the record, other OSs warn you the first time you use [del] that "the item(s) will be moved to trash/recycle bin" and have a "dont warn me again" check box to disable the warning if you wish.
That doesn't work so well when you're getting files off networked windows drives. It auto-deletes without moving to the trash.
Originally posted by 1337_5L4Xx0R
I think it's overcluttered and fugly. Way more information is presented than is needed, or IMHO, wanted. When was the last time you wanted to go to your Mac HD -> Users -> folder? Which of your documents is _not_ in your home folder? Which of your apps is _not_ in your Applications folder? The point of a UI is to abstract the info in a meaningful way. I say this as someone who is very comfortable on the command line. A UI should be the opposite of the command line.
I agree. The Inspector Panel needs tabs within it starting with basic information to an advanced panel view to dig deep into information for those that need it.
Originally posted by Gene Clean
On the top bar in the Finder, there should be the name of the folder containing that file (and if no folder contains it, then the directory containing that file) - Command-Click on it to get a drop down list of the path. Click on the one you want to go to.
Perfect! Thank you for revealing this functionality, it was bugging me that OSX would lack something simple like this.