My first file manager, in early DOS days, was Xtree Pro. When I wanted archive capability, I moved to a non-standard twin-pane file manager, Stereo Shell. When StS ran out of steam on bigger discs and directories, I changed to freeware File Wizard, a Norton Commander clone with some extensions for LFNs etc. By the time FW ran out of steam on even bigger discs and later versions of Windows, and didn't gracefully handle admin rights, even I had reluct antlyto accept the reality of Windows, and on the recommendation of my Fidonet sysop went for the superb
Total Commander, the first thing I found that made using Windows almost semi-tolerable. I've remained faithful for about 13 years. NBut, I also have licenses for
ZTreeWin, a native Windows 32-bit console mode extended descendant of the XTree concept. That was primarily a nostalgia trip, but it's a very capable and responsive file manager. Finally, I have a license for XYplorer, which I found extremely useful for file finding duties on the network at work.
In short, I use what I do because in a sense I always have. The ones I use now are mainly lineal descendants of ones I used before, apart from XYplorer.