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File Managers! Windows Explorer replacement! Come one, come all...
JohnFredC:
I agree with all your points except:
fails to provide me with an alternative to the dual-pane display mode.
--- End quote ---
You can set the SC panel divider to 100% (or 0%), turn off the tree, maximize the SC window, turn on the thumbs, and have the full screen to organize your thumbs. Save that as a named layout, put the built-in layout dropdown control on a tool bar and switch to it instantly. Voila!
Or even simpler: just put SC's built-in 100% button on a toolbar. You can see that button (along with other panel control buttons) on the bottom toolbar shown in that SC graphic in my previous post.
I should add that SpeedCommander doesn't seem all that speedy compared to Salamander or xplorer2. A sticking point for me.
Salamander has by far the slickest/smoothest "seeming" interface behavior and appearance. It's like silk. Scrolling long panels of thumbs in Salamander is especially smooth. The Salamander helper dialogs for copying/moving etc, are also excellent, though they have fewer options than TC's do (the leader in copy exception dialogs, IMHO). Sometimes the sheer attractiveness of the interface makes using a program more pleasant than another. Salamander is a joy to use, in that regard.
One nice thing about the Dopus thumbs display is that you can put a slider in a tool bar and resize the thumbs on the fly without having to enter the Options dialog.
Finally: No problem here with a nag screen if I haven't paid. I only open programs once between system boots, anyway.
Dirhael:
I agree with all your points except:
fails to provide me with an alternative to the dual-pane display mode.
--- End quote ---
You can set the SC panel divider to 100% (or 0%), turn off the tree, maximize the SC window, turn on the thumbs, and have the full screen to organize your thumbs. Save that as a named layout, put the layout dropdown on a tool bar and switch to it instantly. Voila!
Salamander has by far the slickest/smoothest "seeming" interface behavior and appearance. It's like silk. I love it. The Salamander helper dialogs for copying/moving etc, are also excellent, though they have fewer options than TC's do (the leader in copy exception dialogs, IMHO).
The nice thing about the Dopus thumbs is that you can put a slider in a tool bar and resize the thumbs on the fly without having to enter the Options dialog. Seems de riguer, to me.
And: I have no problem with a nag screen if I haven't paid.
-JohnFredC (August 31, 2007, 11:24 AM)
--- End quote ---
No I don't have a problem with a nag screen if I haven't paid either, but it's over the top to display a nag screen every single time I hit F3 to view a file considering that I've already viewed this nag screen when I opened the program itself. This excessive nagging doesn't allow me to really evaluate the product, as it means that just to view a single image with the viewer, I have to first hit F3 to open the file, then hit TAB twice to reach the "continue" button on the nag screen, then enter to close said nag screen and first then am I able to take a good look at the image I tried to open. This is insane and only serves to alienate potential customers. I'd much rather have a fully functional, usable, trial peroid lasting a week instead of 60 days of excessive nagging...all the time.
Oh and by the way, while you can set the divider to split the view 0/100%, the program still behaves like you are in dual-pane view. As an example, try hitting TAB when using that display mode and you'll soon see what I mean. It is not a good enough alternative to multiple display modes.
JohnFredC:
The SC nag screen doesn't appear if you use QuickView instead of View.
Dirhael:
The SC nag screen doesn't appear if you use QuickView instead of View.
-JohnFredC (August 31, 2007, 02:15 PM)
--- End quote ---
No, but how does that help? Of course I wouldn't experience any problems with a feature if I don't use it, but that doesn't change the fact that they've gimped the trial badly by doing it the way they did. Quickview is by no means the same as the view you get with F3, and isn't even remotely close to being an acceptable workaround.
If my projector doesn't work, I don't see staring at the slides themselves as an acceptable workaround and this is pretty much the same thing. If this is the way they want the trial to work then fine, but seeing as their competitors are able to get it right I'd much rather give one of them my money instead. I would think that the purpose of a trial is to give a potential customer a good impression of the software and the company behind it, so while this isn't something I'd encounter in a purchased copy it doesn't exactly give me a good impression on how I can expect to be handled as a customer. A good product can only get you so far. It's how you handle public relations etc. that makes something good great.
Anyway, enough about that. It's not really worth discussing any further seeing as I don't think there is much I can do about it :)
Innuendo:
There's an old thread that discusses Directory Opus here:
https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=8056.0
I think a few other file managers are discussed there. I would like to throw in my two cents regarding some of the file managers discussed thus far in this thread, though.
Directory Opus - Very powerful, but lacking the ability to treat non-zip archives as directories a la Total Commander. Also, upgrade pricing is horrible. Depending on when you buy the existing version compared to when the new version comes out expect to pay up to 80% of new user pricing. It's shameful.
SpeedCommander - While also powerful near as I can figure each version is priced unto itself, i.e. each new version has no upgrade path. You must pay the full version price if you want to use the new full version. This is also a shameful policy.
PowerDesk - Unless you like the program exactly as it is with the feature-set (and bug-set) set in stone, do not buy it. It's all but abandoned and will most likely not ever be updated. It hasn't been updated in years as a matter of fact. The original authors (Mijenix) sold this program off and it's switched hands numerous times before landing in VCom's hands. VCom has never updated it since acquiring the program to my knowlege. The good news is the original authors went off and re-wrote the program from the ground up, has new features, and works a LOT better than PowerDesk & their version is called ExplorerPlus. The bad news is their company was called Novatix & it went under with their programs being sold off and distributed to other companies except for...you guessed it, ExplorerPlus which has evidently been abandoned. I strongly suggest anyone who likes PowerDesk try to scrounge up the full version of ExploerPlus on abandonware sites. The last version I am aware of is v6.2.
TotalCommander - It's the most powerful file manager ever written. However, if you don't like the classic two-pane interface or having to deal with plugins all that power is likely to mean nothing to you. Of the commercial file manager programs it has the most generous price. Just pay once and you have free upgrades for life. Again, if you don't like the TC way of doing things then that's not going to mean anything to you, either.
Sounds like there are some people in this thread who are as serious about their file managers as I am. I'd love to see the confgurations & plugins you TC junkies are using.
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