![]() ![]() Part of me wants to use Path Finder as some of its features are perfect, but I’m not sure that I want to spend the money on it. In an ideal world, many of the features of Path Finder should be in the Finder as standard. It is available as a 30 day trial so I might just give it another go. Path Finder is a more powerful alternative to the Finder than Total Finder is, but as a separate application it takes a little more learning and does look a little different to the Finder we are all used to. Quitting the Finder like this also means that certain features of the Finder aren’t available, such as the ability to enter Time Machine interface. Although I’d really like to see these features within the Finder itself rather than having to run a separate program that duplicates the Finders functions. This used to be pretty annoying but there is now an option to quit the Finder on launch and obviously one to start Path Finder at start-up which should make the experience of replacing the Finder fairly transparent. Path FInder runs as separate application to the Finder. Especially as I’ve been holding onto the hope that Apple would just buy it and add it to the next release of the Operating System – I live in hope. I’ve never really felt like paying that for something that should be in the OS as standard. I’m going to give it another go as it really is an impressive application that does everything the Finder should do and more, however it is quite expensive at $39.95. As well as Tabbed Finder windows and Dual Pane windows it also has features such as Drop Stacks that allow you to move files from various folders around with ease, a built in Terminal drawer and many many ways to customise your Finder experience. It is a really nice application and has lots of extras built into it. I’ve looked at Path Finder a few times in the past as an alternative to the Finder but never actually decided to buy it. Total Finder has a 14 day free trial and then costs $15. I’m still testing this application but it seems to address some of the shortcomings of the Finder in a neat an unobtrusive way. ![]() ![]() TotalFinder also has options that allow you to show hidden files and arrange the contents of windows so that folders are always shown at the top above documents. A handy way to get to the FInder when in any application. It is fixed to the bottom of the screen but has all of the features of a normal Finder window along with those additional features of TotalFinder. Accessed by a keyboard shortcut, when you activate Visor a TotalFinder window pops up from the bottom of the screen above all other windows. TotalFinder also offers a few other features such as Visor, which is s system-wide TotalFinder window displaying at the bottom of the screen. Once you know the keyboard shortcut it is pretty intuitive and easy to use, and something that really should be in the Finder as standard. TotalFinderĪ quick keyboard shortcut also brings up the Dual Pane view which instantly displays two separate Finder windows side-by-side, letting you easily move files from one panel to the other. Perfect for those comparing, copying and moving tasks within the Finder – Except that the Mac OSX Finder doesn’t support his feature. Dual Pane file browsing allows you to view the contents of two folders or volumes side-by-side in one window. Again, finding the two folders you need can be difficult when you have a whole load of Finder windows open. The Finder in Mac OSX is used for file management, this often involves moving and copying files from one place to another. Tabbed windows would make so much sense in the Finder – Quite why it hasn’t been implemented in the OSX I don’t know. The Finder shouldn’t be any different, I often have multiple Finder windows open and trying to find the one I want from a whole stack of them can be a nuisance. It keeps things tidy and well organised and makes managing multiple windows within in application a breeze. Many other apps that I use on a daily basis such as Photoshop and my text editor Coda also use tabbed windows and it’s something I now come to expect of an application. Almost all web-browsers offer tabbed windows and it has become a feature we couldn’t live without. We’ve all got used to tabbed windows in our web-browsers. As a bit of an Apple fan-boy it’s not often that I moan about the short-comings of Apple products, the Mac or OSX, but one thing that I’ve wanted for a while in the Finder is tabbed windows and a dual pane function.
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