Author Topic: Directory Opus 9 (Read 268,014 times)

KenR · « **on:** April 11, 2007, 10:57 PM »

Here is some exciting news for DOpus fans, version 9 will be released on April 27th. Upgrade information is listed below and here is a preview of the new version.

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GPSoftware is proud to announce the imminent release of a major upgrade to its flagship product, Directory Opus. This week, Version 9 passed through the company's rigorous Beta testing program thanks to the help of a dedicated team of Beta testers and is currently is undergoing final testing and certification.
This new version cements Directory Opus' place as the leading File Manager and Explorer Replacement for Windows. Directory Opus 9 raises the bar even higher for Windows File Managers providing full support for Windows Vista and a host of enhancements and new functionality.
* Directory Opus 9 will be available for purchase and upgrade on April 27.
* All registered users will be notified when the product is available for official upgrade. (DO check that your email address you have registered with us is up-to-date. Otherwise you may miss the important notice of your upgrade rights. You may check your registered details from the Licence Manager on the Support page.
* There will be no increase in price for the new product. Pricing will remain the same at AUS$85.00 for a single Licence. (Around US$60-65 - unless the US dollar drops even further through the floor as it has been doing recently!)
* All users who purchased after December 1, 2006 will automatically receive a free upgrade.
* The upgrade pricing for all other users of Opus 8 will be AUS$50.00 for a single Licence with a sliding scale for extra licences.
* A discounted upgrade will also be available for registered users of Opus 6. Pricing to be announced.
* Version 9 has a new Licence which allows a registered user to also install the program on one personal laptop.
* You will be able to run Opus from an external USB flash drive with the new licensing scheme. A USB export Licence will be required for each USB flash drive a cost of AUS$10.00 per Licence per device. These will be able for purchase at the time of order of the new version for new and existing users as required.

http://www.gpsoft.com.au/index2.html

mouser · « **Reply #1 on:** April 11, 2007, 11:02 PM »

ps1. i think dc members are still entitled to a 20% discount on directory opus.
ps2. that upgrade policy sounds very harsh (all purchases before dec 2006 have to pay to upgrade.. not even a year amnesty? yuck).
ps3. remember that these are AUStralian dollar amounts -- it's cheaper in US dollars.

Darwin · « **Reply #2 on:** April 12, 2007, 01:21 AM »

Great... another expense on the horizon. This one's going to have to fly under my wife's radar or I'll be out on the deck, enjoying the night sky and solitude.

Seriously, I think that many of the new features are killer - opening new folders in tabs instead of new windows, running from a USB stick (the $10 surcharge sticks in my craw a bit, though especially given that the new license allows one run DOpus on two machines - I can't quite see why portability couldn't be covered under this), ability to launch DOpus via double-clicking the desktop even if the process is not running in the background (wonder if this is true, too, of double-clicking on folder icons on the desktop when in "Explorer Replacement" mode?), colour coding folders will be useful and will mean that I don't need to run a separate app to achieve this, etc. - but the upgrade price is steep. I purchased DOpus 6 and upgraded to 8 and eventually wound up buying a license for each of my computers (3). I feel that a 41% discount is a bit stingy (yes, I understand how a market economy works and that developers are entitled to set their own pricing) and I *hope* (against hope) that I'll have the strength to critically evaluate DOpus 9 before reaching for my wallet. I'm not too optimistic, though... My experience is that DOpus is worth every penny asked for it.

zridling · « **Reply #3 on:** April 12, 2007, 02:54 AM »

Wow, great find Ken! I counted at least a dozen features that Directory Opus either copied or is finally catching up to XYplorer 5.x on. Wonder if they read the Forum and study the XYplorer betas? $50 (which is probably $40 USD) is a lot compared to XYplorer's Lifetime license, small size, portability, XML settings, System integration, etc. Like Darwin, I bought DOpus 6, skipped 7, and spent another $90 buying everything I wanted for version 8. They really should sell just one complete version. If they want to modularize it, then fine, but start with the portable/micro version and go up, rather than extracting features that should be part of every copy. (I say this because it makes for unfair comparisons with other file managers.)

Directory Opus is one of those programs that are so addictive that it really makes Windows a lot of fun. I spend the majority of my day among the browser, text editor, and file manager.

Darwin · « **Reply #4 on:** April 12, 2007, 03:02 AM »

Hi Zaine,

I didn't mention XYplorer in my missive above, but it, and its very reasonably priced lifetime license, were on my mind as I wrote it. I have a license for XYplorer and have use it on a thumbdrive when I'm on a machine that doesn't have something more robust on it than Windows Explorer. I haven't quite gotten to the point of considering XYplorer indispensible (compared to DOpus) but considering the price and the feature set, it's very, very close. Too bad gpsoft didn't look at XYplorer's license more closely

MrCrispy · « **Reply #5 on:** April 12, 2007, 03:04 AM »

How does DOpus compare to xplorer2 (zabkat.com). I bought a license for that since it seemed to provide the best power user usability features without extra frills. I use it mostly in the dual pane view with a lot of keybaord shortcuts. But the upgrades have been few and far between and since I'm upgrading to Vista soon, I'd like a file manager built for it. DOpus looks good but the kitchen-sink list of features worries me a bit.

Darwin · « **Reply #6 on:** April 12, 2007, 03:08 AM »

I haven't used xplorer2 in a long time (since before discovering DOpus) but my impressions from that time and what I've read about it on the internet over the last year suggest that it's a very capable alternative. Note that the developer (of xplorer2) states that it was one of the first file managers to be declared vista ready, so you shouldn't actually need to go looking for a file manager to replace xplorer2 under vista.

zridling · « **Reply #7 on:** April 12, 2007, 03:09 AM »

So far I've only found three companies that honored their "lifetime" licenses — WinRAR, XYplorer, and UltraEdit so far. Everyone else finds an out by either changing the name of the program or just discontinuing it. SlySoft recently added new features to their AnyDVD program and went back to users who bought Lifetime licenses to ask for $30 to get the new features. I got pissed at that.

I don't begrudge a company — or anyone — going to the bank. I truly believe developers ought to be able to make a living from their software, even if it's smallware, as long as it's good. I figure GPSoft has sold enough licenses to DOpus over eight versions that they know what users will pay, and what they think the program is worth. Unfortunately, DOpus is one of the most cracked programs online anymore. Still this version 9 looks like it will take full advantage of Vista. Wondering if they'll consider a 65-bit version? (64-bit is so 2007)

zridling · « **Reply #8 on:** April 12, 2007, 03:12 AM »

MrCrispy, Directory Opus is an advanced file manager. By that I mean it will do just about anything you can throw at it, if you're willing to study it. It's that good. When 9 arrives, download a trial and use it for a couple of weeks. It might grow on you. I've found that xplorer2 users really, really like their file manager and it's difficult to get them to switch.

taichimaster · « **Reply #9 on:** April 12, 2007, 03:29 AM »

Quote from: zridling on April 12, 2007, 03:12 AM

I've found that xplorer2 users really, really like their file manager and it's difficult to get them to switch.

+1. I have installed DO and XYplorer on my VMs before, but have never gotten deep into trying them out. xplorer2 does everything I throw at it so well, it's really hard to find any motivation to try others really.

MrCrispy · « **Reply #10 on:** April 12, 2007, 03:56 AM »

Yeah, count me in as a devoted xplorer2 user! I like the programs philosophy of doing the correct thing w.r.t how the OS behaves. e.g. its one of the few if not only file managers I tried that would correctly display the Explorer namespace including all extensions. So I can choose to go to locations like 'Control Panel', 'Recycle Bin' inside it, and the display columns will show me content specific to those, instead of just being a file manager for files and folders. This extends to proper drag and drop support, context menu handlers etc. Its one of the reasons xplorer2 is so well behaved and flexible.

What got me excited over DOpus 9 specifically is the breadcrumb bar which is one of the best features of Vista's explorer.

Darwin · « **Reply #11 on:** April 12, 2007, 04:31 AM »

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So far I've only found three companies that honored their "lifetime" licenses — WinRAR, XYplorer, and UltraEdit so far. Everyone else finds an out by either changing the name of the program or just discontinuing it.

I'd forgotten about the lifetime upgrade for UltraEdit. Now I'm really glad that I've been dithering about the upgrade to 13 as I'll certainly buy the lifetime upgrades...

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SlySoft recently added new features to their AnyDVD program and went back to users who bought Lifetime licenses to ask for $30 to get the new features. I got pissed at that.

No doubt! WTF is the point of buying a lifetime license if it isn't a lifetime license - or do they interpret lifetime as referring to major releases (lifetime of AnyDVD 1, lifetime of AnyDVD2, etc.)?!

zridling · « **Reply #12 on:** April 12, 2007, 05:01 AM »

Breadcrumbs were a nice addition to XYplorer in version 5.x. Perhaps the thing I like best about DOpus is being able to assign keyboard shortcuts to specific folders and files if I want. THAT'S just cool, and so handy it makes me say: gigedy, gigedy!

You guys tell me. When I've used xplorer2, for me the big attraction is its apparent simplicity. Yet it has so much power under the hood. It's not intimidating, yet it satisfies the power users. And simple features, like being able to print out a folder list (even indented like your folder tree) is brilliant. I presume its user community came up with such ideas.

dluby · « **Reply #13 on:** April 12, 2007, 08:02 AM »

zridling,

You say:

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"Perhaps the thing I like best about DOpus is being able to assign keyboard shortcuts to specific folders and files if I want"

Can I ask you how this is done? I use Dopus 8.2.2.5 and I can't seem to find how to do this?

Thanks

Damian

Hirudin · « **Reply #14 on:** April 12, 2007, 08:39 AM »

I think %40 off is OK for an upgrade price. I'd prefer more off, say 60%, or a lifetime upgrade, but 40% is fine.

I actually think the AnyDVD $30 upgrade thing is OK as well. I'd say that the change from DVD to HD DVD and Blueray is significant enough to call the new software something different. Specially since it appears that they'll keep updating the DVD part... Again, I'd always want more, but this'll do...

TucknDar · « **Reply #15 on:** April 12, 2007, 08:58 AM »

Total Commander has proper lifetime license, and it's a heckuva lot cheaper than DOpus. I don't doubt that DOpus is an extraordinary Filemanager, but the price is crazy and so is the upgrad scheme, IMO.

I'll definitely stick with TC and it's excellent plugin system

Darwin · « **Reply #16 on:** April 12, 2007, 02:34 PM »

Quote from: Hirudin on April 12, 2007, 08:39 AM

I think %40 off is OK for an upgrade price. I'd prefer more off, say 60%, or a lifetime upgrade, but 40% is fine.

I have to confess that when I did the math (and calculated the discount in percent) I almost didn't post about it - anything over 25% is pretty standard and 40% is actually higher than my seat of the pants estimate of a 30% average. It's just sticker shock on my part because their standard pricing is almost 45% higher than most of their competition ($70.50 US at today's exchange rate versus a "standard" of about $39.95) so their upgrade price is still higher than the cost of a full license for other products.

cthorpe · « **Reply #17 on:** April 12, 2007, 02:56 PM »

Awesome! I purchased DO in January, so I get the free upgrade. Keep in mind when thinking about the upgrade policy that version 8 was available since 2005 with regular point updates. Those point updates were free. So yes you have to pay for major upgrades, but those don't come very often.

Having said that, I do think there should be a little more of a grace period for the free upgrade.

superboyac · « **Reply #18 on:** April 12, 2007, 04:16 PM »

Yeah, DOpus' one "negative" has always been their pricing. But, damn, if it isn't one of the finest pieces of software ass around. Darwin's right, even though they are giving us a somewhat nice 40% discount for the upgrade, the original price is so expensive in the first place, that the upgrade fee alone is still more than the regular price of other software. Oh well, as long as the quality of the software remains excellent, then it's ok I guess.

superboyac · « **Reply #19 on:** April 12, 2007, 04:31 PM »

Wow! Did you guys check out nudel's preview of the new v9? It's freakin amazing. Expensive or not, this program is crazy!
http://nudel.dopus.com/opus9/

Dopus is the shiznit!

cthorpe · « **Reply #20 on:** April 12, 2007, 04:34 PM »

Quote from: superboyac on April 12, 2007, 04:31 PM

Wow! Did you guys check out nudel's preview of the new v9? It's freakin amazing. Expensive or not, this program is crazy!
http://nudel.dopus.com/opus9/

I'm at work, and I can't view that preview because the address has nude in it. The filter here blocks it as containing pornographic content.

superboyac · « **Reply #21 on:** April 12, 2007, 05:04 PM »

Quote from: cthorpe on April 12, 2007, 04:34 PM

I'm at work, and I can't view that preview because the address has nude in it. The filter here blocks it as containing pornographic content.

Well, depending on how much you like DOpus, it's almost as exciting as porn, so maybe you should wait until you go home to read it!

cthorpe · « **Reply #22 on:** April 12, 2007, 05:45 PM »

good point

edbro · « **Reply #23 on:** April 12, 2007, 06:16 PM »

I wonder if we can apply the DonationCoder discount when we buy the upgrade. I originally bought it because of the discount code and only paid $32. I'd hate to pay $41 to upgrade something I only paid $32 for. If not, I doubt I would upgrade. I'm sticking with XP for awhile so this isn't a must have upgrade for me.

Darwin · « **Reply #24 on:** April 12, 2007, 06:22 PM »

Quote from: Darwin on April 12, 2007, 04:31 AM

WTF is the point of buying a lifetime license if it isn't a lifetime license - or do they interpret lifetime as referring to major releases (lifetime of AnyDVD 1, lifetime of AnyDVD2, etc.)?!

Er... what can I say? It was late at night and ranting was therapeutic. In the harsh light of the late morning here on the west coast of NA, obviously developers mean the lifetime of the product, not the licensee. Doh! Thanks for making that point obvious to me, Hirudin.

Edbro - I went to sleep wondering the same thing! We can hope, can't we?