Author Topic: Altap Salamander now freeware (Read 27,064 times)

x16wda · « **on:** August 09, 2019, 11:14 PM »

I haven't noticed anyone post that the Altap Salamander file manager is now freeware - did I just miss the post?

Altap Salamander download page

Quote

Download Altap Salamander 4.0 - Freeware
Altap Salamander (including all plugins) from version 4.0 becomes freeware for both commercial and non-commercial use. Users of older Salamander versions can upgrade to version 4.0 free of charge. Version 4.0 requires Windows 7 or newer. There are not other limitations compared to commercial version 3.08.

Steven Avery · « **Reply #1 on:** August 10, 2019, 02:13 PM »

And their support forum is active.

Altap Salamander Support Forums
https://forum.altap.cz/index.php?sid=c586096de7a21120a57dd1c704e726b7

MilesAhead · « **Reply #2 on:** August 10, 2019, 02:14 PM »

Quote from: x16wda on August 09, 2019, 11:14 PM

I haven't noticed anyone post that the Altap Salamander file manager is now freeware - did I just miss the post?

Altap Salamander download page

Quote
Download Altap Salamander 4.0 - Freeware
Altap Salamander (including all plugins) from version 4.0 becomes freeware for both commercial and non-commercial use. Users of older Salamander versions can upgrade to version 4.0 free of charge. Version 4.0 requires Windows 7 or newer. There are not other limitations compared to commercial version 3.08.

Cool. I never heard of this file manager. I was into FreeCommander until the 64 bit hurdle kind of messed up the evolution of it. I will check it out though. Thanks for the heads up.

wraith808 · « **Reply #3 on:** August 10, 2019, 05:18 PM »

It's a very nice explorer. I didn't know that it had become free... so thanks for the heads up!

Tuxman · « **Reply #4 on:** August 10, 2019, 05:52 PM »

Still no Unicode support - and according to the forums, it's not clear whether the new owner of Altap will continue development.

rjbull · « **Reply #5 on:** August 10, 2019, 08:28 PM »

Quote from: MilesAhead on August 10, 2019, 02:14 PM

I was into FreeCommander until the 64 bit hurdle kind of messed up the evolution of it.

Don't overlook

Double Commander
Quote
Double Commander is a free cross platform open source file manager with two panels side by side. It is inspired by Total Commander and features some new ideas.
Multi Commander
Windows only. Favourable comments from Shades in this DC thread: Re: Batch file to move files (less than total size) from A to B

Both of these come in 32- and 64-bit Windows flavours, portable versions too.

rjbull · « **Reply #6 on:** August 10, 2019, 08:35 PM »

Quote from: x16wda on August 09, 2019, 11:14 PM

I haven't noticed anyone post that the Altap Salamander file manager is now freeware - did I just miss the post?

Altap Salamander download page

Quote
Download Altap Salamander 4.0 - Freeware
Altap Salamander (including all plugins) from version 4.0 becomes freeware for both commercial and non-commercial use. Users of older Salamander versions can upgrade to version 4.0 free of charge. Version 4.0 requires Windows 7 or newer. There are not other limitations compared to commercial version 3.08.

This is the first post I've seen on DC, but it's just been mentioned by 'Gizmo': This Commercial File Manager for Windows is Now Freeware

I don't understand the wording of the press release, though. Do they mean that only the new v4 is free? V4 doesn't support (at least, they don't say it does) Windows earlier than 7. Some of us are old-fashioned...

Tuxman · « **Reply #7 on:** August 10, 2019, 08:39 PM »

The Double Commander is a nice application, but it all depends on what you need.

Generally, all "Commanders" (including the Salamander) are only strong if you copy/move files regularly. That's when the second window can shine.
Also, you should consider to spend money. Paid file managers are (almost) always better than freeware file managers.

I guess I tried most of them by now, having settled to the Total Commander for the time being - until something better appears in my sphere.

rjbull · « **Reply #8 on:** August 10, 2019, 08:48 PM »

Quote from: Tuxman on August 10, 2019, 08:39 PM

[...] Paid file managers are (almost) always better than freeware file managers.

I [...] settled to the Total Commander

So did I, in 1999

It was the first thing that made working with Windows almost semi-tolerable. I have licences for Ztree Win and XYplorere too, but TC is the one I practically live in when at the computer.

On the other hand - I carry a USB stick around with me, and I've left it stuck in a computer in the library a couple of times. My limited experience of USB stick encryption was not very delightful, and I wondered about what free software to put on an unencrypted stick, so that someone picking it up wouldn't benefit from my licence (and wouldn't be able to broadcast it all over the Internet).

Just because you're paranoid, it doesn't mean they aren't out to get you, right?

Tuxman · « **Reply #9 on:** August 10, 2019, 08:58 PM »

Hmm. I tried Ztree a few months ago, and, although I like tree-based file managers (when I had an Android phone, X-plore was my favorite by far), I found it surprisingly lacking.
XYplorer never grew to me.

wraith808 · « **Reply #10 on:** August 10, 2019, 10:19 PM »

I only use XYPlorer when I don't have access to DOPus

BGM · « **Reply #11 on:** August 11, 2019, 04:07 AM »

Quote from: Tuxman on August 10, 2019, 08:39 PM

Also, you should consider to spend money. Paid file managers are (almost) always better than freeware file managers.

I disagree with this statement. I've been a user and beta-tester for FreeCommander for years and years. I honestly can't imagine anything any other file manager could possibly do. It does absolutely everything. There are stacks and stacks of features that I don't even use all of them - and I'm a power user if there ever was one (speaking humbly here). The forum has always been active, and the authour responds.

Tuxman · « **Reply #12 on:** August 11, 2019, 08:42 AM »

FreeCommander (64-bit) is a paid software. Point proven.

Curt · « **Reply #13 on:** August 11, 2019, 12:58 PM »

Stop bickering!

FreeCommander is freeware - and they also have a bonus version for donators.

Quote from: FreeCommander

The “Donor Version” of the program is the release created more often then once a year, as bonus for the donors. These versions are marked in the about dialog box as “donor” and not as “public”. The donor versions are available as 64 and 32 bit, both in setup and portable form. The functions of the donor release compared to public are the same with the exception for searching in the “PDF” files.

Tuxman · « **Reply #14 on:** August 11, 2019, 01:00 PM »

So the unpaid version is artificially crippled. That's not what I would call a "freeware" software.

BGM · « **Reply #15 on:** August 11, 2019, 02:13 PM »

Quote from: Tuxman on August 11, 2019, 01:00 PM

So the unpaid version is artificially crippled. That's not what I would call a "freeware" software.

No, Tuxy, I think there is a misunderstanding. The donor versions are betas. The beta-testers-donors donate to get to use the beta versions ahead of production schedule. Then, when it gets to the point for a new release, the beta version is released as a public version. There is no crippling going on. A new, fully-functional public release is made every few months or so. The donor version is basically a beta-preview.

FreeCommander has NO license or registration codes to govern any kind of feature-crippling system. It's always been this way. It's called FREECommander for a reason.

Here is from the FAQ page:

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Is the FreeCommander free also for commercial use?
Yes it is, you can use it free of charge for private and professional purposes. You may not however sell it for profit and you may not bundle FreeCommander in other software packages without affirmation of the author.

However, to give you some credit, this is from the FAQ, too (but I don't know if this is still the case anymore; it might be; I've never tested it):

Quote

The functions of the donor release compared to public are the same with the exception for searching in the “PDF” files.

BGM · « **Reply #16 on:** August 11, 2019, 02:21 PM »

Speaking of freeware file managers, Q-Dir is also very nice and very useful if you have to distribute files into a lot of places. It is very configurable.

There is also QTTabBar which gives tabs and customizable toolbars to Windows Explorer - this is very nice, too - it makes Windows Explorer actually pleasant.

Tuxman · « **Reply #17 on:** August 11, 2019, 02:34 PM »

Quote from: BGM on August 11, 2019, 02:13 PM

A new, fully-functional public release is made every few months or so.

The 64-bit version has not been public and free for years.

Shades · « **Reply #18 on:** August 11, 2019, 05:31 PM »

Quote from: BGM on August 11, 2019, 02:21 PM

Speaking of freeware file managers, Q-Dir is also very nice and very useful if you have to distribute files into a lot of places. It is very configurable.

There is also QTTabBar which gives tabs and customizable toolbars to Windows Explorer - this is very nice, too - it makes Windows Explorer actually pleasant.

For those that like QTTabBar and its specifics, tablacusexplorer is supposed to be a free alternative (after you download and use the 'Split' add-on. There are boatloads of add-on's for it, actually. Including a dark theme, if you are into that. Also as a portable app available.

** edit: added link **

rgdot · « **Reply #19 on:** August 12, 2019, 01:16 AM »

"Click: Go to parent folder" is done only via an addon? How minimal is the base install?

Shades · « **Reply #20 on:** August 12, 2019, 06:22 AM »

Not nearly as minimal as your post suggests

The portable version I got was less than 600KByte to download, add-ons are usually single digit KByte downloads. Customization to any of your specific needs is possible with this one.

rgdot · « **Reply #21 on:** August 12, 2019, 03:56 PM »

Interesting, will try it thanks