1)
To echo Tuxman: "Even FreeCommander (as implied, more or less free) does that." (admittedly to a lesser degree; and of course, most paid file managers do it, too.)
"I think that the main advantage of DO over other file managers is the ease with which it enables one to label files with different colors and statuses, and to sort and organize the files accordingly."
Let's put this straight. Many people who love their current software but don't know too much about competing software, make similar errors, in part by their lack of knowledge, but in part, oh yeah, in a try to endorse their investment.
For example, I, some time ago, had made the mistake to buy the then most expensive duplicate tool, then only discovered - the trial is a crippled one - how bad it was, after all; the almost-universal prejudice / false preconception that "you get what you pay for" worked in BOTH ways : I should have known better, even then, from life-long experience. (I relate on that duplicate tool error of mine in the Trial thread, and I lately even discovered that now that most expensive tool has become free (!), and at that "price", it isn't that bad at all, finally...)
Now, to DO, both phenomenons apply:
- with the (non-competitive) price come some quite positive expectations: it should be superior (which it is not, but it's not inferior either to its best competitors)
- since you (the paying user) payed the price, you then would not really like to discover that you could get that same functionality (which is important to you) for much less, so you don't really want to get fully informed on that comparative situation; that's human, that's not lying, that's simply denying; and, of course, that doesn't apply to any such statement along those lines; some people just don't know better and speak too early: that's human, too, I speak here from my personal experience. (And yes, of course, "Everything" is the best tool there is on the market, for any Windows user of all ages, and by far.)
Fact is, a tool like DO profits from this lack of knowledge of some of its users and who then "spread the word", DO allegedly being superior.
As said by me above, I cannot speak for the strengths of the preview pane, never using that in any of my file managers, BUT since there is an allegation that DO was very strong in this field, I speculate (!) that for modern file formats, XY is on par with DO, most of DO's additional file formats being defunct for ages now, e.g. some text processors from the Nineties, and so on; also, for most of the available formats in DO, you need to buy some third-party add-in, at 30 bucks plus VAT if I remember well. Also, exotic but current file formats are more or less absent from that additional list, too, whilst, again, you get lots of defunct file formats, and, let's be honest here: That's not because of the real interest in these formats, but because they (the third-party entity) simply have more or less stopped development in that area 2 decennials ago.
2)
Since we mentioned SpeedCommander above: The "speciality" of SC is that is has NO English-speaking forum BUT a German-speaking forum, and - I missed mentioning this important fact above - even the help is in German, but NOT in English, too, so they specialize in German customers with no or unsufficient knowledge of English, but non-DACH (D, Austria, Switzerland) customers should be very rare. This particularity explains both the exaggerated pricing of this tool, and the fact that on most counts, it's inferior to some of its competitors; for example, its meta data management is abysmally bad. On the other hand, it has always been, and by far, the prettiest file manager there is, and copying their (minimalistic but utterly pleasant) screen design should not be too complicated... but would go against their competitors' respective egos.
Btw, many Italians, Russians, Chinese, French, Spanish (-speaking people) are awaiting your special file manager development, including full service in their respective mother language...
And again btw, DO's management of tagging and/or "virtual folders" / whatever-you-call-it is NOT superior to its best (paid) competitors either; it just seems to be at first look.
3)
Whenever I speak of pricing / prices here, I always take into account the fact that FC is more or less free, and that both X2 and XY are both available with a so-called "lifetime" license, where the price includes any updates, and that this even applies to their regularly getting back to bitsdujour, and thus, when I say that over a user's lifetime, DO might be at a price tenfold its competitors, that's estimated on this basis.
