Sorry, Jibz, but I really tried. I tried Total Commander several times since its 7.0 days IIRC, playing with its config., talking to some users, trying to make it look like something I might want to look at for a couple of hours a day. No chance. Even the "Ultima Prime" mod looks awfully on all screenshots I've ever stumbled upon.-Tuxman
I once read a user review of Total Commander that likened it to playing the piano. He was right because much like hitting different chords of keys on the piano enables one to make any sound, hitting different chords of keys on your keyboard allows one to accomplish any file management task within Total Commander. I'll extend that analogy even farther. If one wants to become a 'concert pianist' with Total Commander, it's going to take a lot of dedication and learning.
Unfortunately, that dedication and learning not only applies to the function, but to the form as well. You can change everything you see...the icons, fonts, key commands, plugins, the menu items...but last I checked there was no unified how-to guide. Everything you need is in their forum, but you'll be digging around to find everything you need and you'll be spending most of your time in text configuration files rather than a well-designed GUI. However, I have to point out that investing that level of dedication and learning is not without its rewards. Once finished, you'd have one of the most powerful file managers that has ever existed, completely customized around your workflow. However, at the end of the day, one orthodox file manager looks like pretty much any other orthodox file manager. They all pretty much share the same 'old school' look.
The Ultima Prime mod is something I wouldn't mess with. It's main purpose is to cram as much functionality & plugins as possible into one Total Commander configuration. Sure, it does everything for you, but you won't learn anything that way. If you run into bugs or want to upgrade a plugin on your own, you'll have to wade through a lot of stuff trying to make sense out of everything. Also, with Ultima Prime's kitchen sink approach, you're going to have a lot of plugins installed you'll never want or need which means a lot more opportunity for things to go wrong. Finally, everything will be set up as what someone else thinks is the optimal configuration, not you so you'd have to learn to work the way someone else works. Not good.
Orthodox file managers, when they were invented, catered to a world where storage was small and users only stored data in a few places. In the modern world, I find that I need to have more than just two panels open at a time. Maybe I'm working with my music library...source, destination, possibly preview and metadata panels are what I like to have open. Or perhaps my pictures library...source, destination, and preview panels for that task. Therefore, although I have a license to Total Commander I've moved on to a different file manager as the orthodox style can be restrictive and claustrophobic at times.
As for the programs you mentioned, I've used both extensively, but quite a long time ago so I don't have much experience with the recent versions. They were both solid performers at the time, though. SpeedCommander is very German-centric and Salamander seems to want to nickel and dime you for every plugin.
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