Author Topic: File Managers! Windows Explorer replacement! Come one, come all... (Read 237,121 times)

Darwin · « **Reply #50 on:** September 11, 2007, 04:25 AM »

Taking a look now, PhilB66. Looks interesting. I'm with Dirhael - in addition to having a serious File Manager obsessoin, I love text editors as well...

Armando · « **Reply #51 on:** September 11, 2007, 05:47 AM »

Ditto... (well... Do you include word processors in your "text editor" category?) In my case : add PIMs.

lanux128 · « **Reply #52 on:** September 11, 2007, 06:01 AM »

Quote from: Armando on September 11, 2007, 05:47 AM

Ditto... (well... Do you include word processors in your "text editor" category?) In my case : add PIMs.

and after PIMs come the browsers then launchers followed by image resizers and er.. you get the picture..

Armando · « **Reply #53 on:** September 11, 2007, 06:05 AM »

Please Lanux, please....

lanux128 · « **Reply #54 on:** September 11, 2007, 06:20 AM »

hehe.. Armando, i misread your post, you were not adding new categories.. you were inserting a new sub-category into the "text-editor" category.. sorry, to add to the confusion.. luckily i'm not writing any dissertations..

Armando · « **Reply #55 on:** September 11, 2007, 06:34 AM »

[off-topic]Actually, I did both, my friend... ; added a sub-category + a brand new one...

Ok. Enough. Off to bed.[/off-topic]

Darwin · « **Reply #56 on:** September 11, 2007, 12:37 PM »

Yes Armando - I'm also addicted to Word processors (office suites, really), notetakers, and PIMS...

Darwin · « **Reply #57 on:** September 11, 2007, 01:09 PM »

Maybe we should consider writing a File Managers review, toghether. As stated in an earlier post, I love File Managers and have played with a lot of them. However, I'm not really knowledgeable enough about the category to tackle a review by myself. Actually, given how complex they can be, it may be difficult for any individual to do it alone. Still, what do you think? Perhaps teams could be made up to work on one or two options together (JohnFredC and urlwolf for TC, maybe we can persuade nudel to write up DOpus, mitzevo for xplorer2, zaine for xyplorer, lanux for servant salamander - acutally, I think there is a mini-review by someone else that could be dusted off)... Hard to coordinate, of course, but worth the effort. As you'll note, DC reviews don't tend to do more than offer "best in class" recommendations - it's not necessary to rank File Managers hierarchically... OK, I'm free associating now...

PS Neglected to mentino Innuendo's 30-40 File Manager list, which might be a good launching point for this.

Darwin · « **Reply #58 on:** September 11, 2007, 01:44 PM »

Quote from: Innuendo on September 11, 2007, 12:06 AM

Darwin, you would just install TC 7.02 over Ultima Prime. The TC installer is smart enough to preserve all the existing Ultima Prime settings.

Hmmm... tried this and it if I specify that TC install to the UP folder, everything works great except for the fact that all of the special TCUP menus are lost and I can't see how to get them back. I'll have to reinstall TCUP and wonder what file(s) I'll then need to backup (and then restore) before installing TC to avoid this? Anyone know?

Darwin · « **Reply #59 on:** September 11, 2007, 01:53 PM »

OK - looks like wincmd.ini is the culprit - I'll try that.

Nope... I've tried the TCUP forums, but haven't gotten anywhere. I'll have to try posting there, I guess. Of course, I could just wait for the next TCUP installer to come out, but where is the fun in that?!

JohnFredC · « **Reply #60 on:** September 11, 2007, 02:15 PM »

Every TC install resets your Main menu (not toolbar). The *.mnu files are usually kept in the Language subfolder of the TC main folder. It is an annoyance, but after every install, re-identify your saved custom menu file from Start->Change Main menu...

Also, keep in mind that the TC default main menu shows only a few of the possible commands (crazy, huh?). Most TC users customize the main menu.

Fully populated menus are available here and a pack of tools (you may already have these) for customizing TC is available from here.

A little tip for customizing your own menu: you can split the menu between left and right sides of the TC window by placing the HELP_BREAK command in the mnu file where you would like the division to occur.

Innuendo · « **Reply #61 on:** September 11, 2007, 02:41 PM »

Darwin, sorry I led you astray. I forgot about the main menu getting reset. I've done it so many times it's just second nature to me so it didn't stick in my mind. I heartily recommend the menu JohnFredC linked, though. Petermad has been crafting TC menus a long time so he knows what he's doing. Switching your menus is just as easy as JohnFredC makes it out to be.

I'd offer to help you guys with the file manager review, but I may be moving in a couple weeks so I've got a lot on my plate right now.

JohnFredC · « **Reply #62 on:** September 11, 2007, 02:47 PM »

I'll help with the review.

Darwin · « **Reply #63 on:** September 11, 2007, 03:18 PM »

Thanks, JohnFredC, and no worries Innuendo. At this point I should bring mouser in to get his thoughts on this.

Innuendo · « **Reply #64 on:** September 11, 2007, 04:08 PM »

Hope you guys know what you are getting yourselves into. This is going to be a daunting task to be sure. I think I still have my list of file managers around here if you guys want it.

Darwin · « **Reply #65 on:** September 11, 2007, 06:46 PM »

Thanks Innuendo! Yes, I know how big this is going to be - that's why I'm suggesting that we get a number of people to look at one or two apps each. There's no way we're going to come up with a "best" application winner - I envisage this being a broad overview of features. Mouser has suggested we hold off until early next year as he's developing a new review system that is actually geared toward this kind of review (or perhaps "overview' is better)

JohnFredC · « **Reply #66 on:** September 11, 2007, 07:02 PM »

This could be a huge effort... it's fun to think about, but is it worth it? I mean, unless there is enough detail, no one would use the comparison, but who would care to read enough of the detail for it to be useful...?

So maybe a better idea would be some sort of structured Wiki approach with categories of behavior/functionality presented at the front and an ability for users to go in and address each category from the perspective of the file manager they know. That way the data could grow incrementally over time... but without any one individual shouldering the entire load.

Armando · « **Reply #67 on:** September 11, 2007, 07:17 PM »

A structured wiki approach seems like a better option.
Yes, it would really make it easier to upgrade the descriptions/comparisons as the different file managers evolve.
But who would supervise it?

Darwin · « **Reply #68 on:** September 11, 2007, 09:40 PM »

The suggestion that DC use a wiki approach in structuring its reviews has come up recently and was discussed here. It was even briefly experiemented with (I *think*) early in DC's "life". As you'll note me stating on the first thread that I've linked to, I'm spectacularly naive about the costs of these things...

Darwin · « **Reply #69 on:** September 11, 2007, 09:44 PM »

Oh, and yes, JohnFredC - I agree entirely with your point about the difficutlies that we'll be facing with this. I suspect that this is one reason mouser has urged me to shelve the idea for a few months while he sorts out his new review system. I've no idea what he has in mind, but presumably it will make this sort of collaborative review effort more feasible. In the meantime, this thread could be a sort of dumping ground for ideas, unless people think that we should start a new one and leave this one for general discussion?

JohnFredC · « **Reply #70 on:** September 11, 2007, 09:52 PM »

My vote: new thread. Reviews probably wouldn't be limited to file managers.

Darwin · « **Reply #71 on:** September 11, 2007, 10:16 PM »

Quote from: JohnFredC on September 11, 2007, 09:52 PM

My vote: new thread. Reviews probably wouldn't be limited to file managers.

Just to clarify - I meant dumping ground for ideas WRT the file management review. However, I tend toward your line of thinking, a new thread for review related notes is probably a good idea. If nothing else, it will keep this thread clear of review related notes and allow it to continue to serve as a discussion area for File Managers in general. I'll wait for a couple of more people to add their thoughts and take it from there.

dalchina · « **Reply #72 on:** September 11, 2007, 11:58 PM »

Hi, Are there any truly 100% effective explorer replacements- i.e. such that explorer never then appears in normal use?

I played with a few, found some bugs in some free ones, and settled - for now- with DOpus.

It's apparently quite hard for an explorer replacement to really be a complete explorer replacement- i.e. to ensure explorer NEVER appears when you don't expect it.

I noted that if you right click on an expanded start menu folder, (Start, Programs, let it expand, right click) and Explore/Explore All, explorer appears even if DOpus is selected as the replacement. I asked Dopus about that, they confirmed it, and their comment was 'MS seem to have broken their own rules here...'!

Are there any truly successful replacements around- no exceptions? (Ok, CTRL ALT DEL, run new process excepted)

BTW I found having a simpler explorer replacement available really useful on the odd occasion when I've had a problem and explorer wouldn't appear- blank desktop syndrome- e.g. freecommander.

tinjaw · « **Reply #73 on:** September 12, 2007, 12:40 AM »

Darwin,

I am interested in knowing how many people use these file managers. I'd think a poll with the main five, a choice for other, and a choice for I don't use one would be very interesting.

Darwin · « **Reply #74 on:** September 12, 2007, 01:07 AM »

OK tinjaw - let me feed my ravenous toddlers and I'll create a poll while they're burping contentedly to themselves and are held captive by Dora the Explorer...