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Best Finder alternative
- Thread starter JonL12345
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I went ahead and upgraded on my Big Sur computer. So far, all I can tell is that it still has the bug I have open on their support forums since that's all I tested. They seem to have a single person, Mary, trying to handle many problems. I submitted my bug on 12/3. On 12/8 Mary responded with a form letter asking for a process sample from Activity Monitor. I responded immediately. Then I posted on 12/9 a specific question to try to move things along. Then today I reported that version 10 still has the problem and I asked for further assistance from anyone else reading my post. And, I added:
I don't expect an answer any time soon. I still use the product since there's no other product that comes close for me.
Path Finder's developers should consider removing their Show Path Finder Desktop feature as it hasn't kept up with the times. At all. Even with version 10. Fonts, Icons. Everything is a mess
And yes, I will express my irritation about that feature until I see fit.
New on the list is the Preferences for Path Finder. Could use a more or less full overhaul. And what's with the needless animation on the activity button for copying files. It's not even a fluid animation.
And yes, I will express my irritation about that feature until I see fit.
New on the list is the Preferences for Path Finder. Could use a more or less full overhaul. And what's with the needless animation on the activity button for copying files. It's not even a fluid animation.
I tried Pathfinder 10 and after about 5 minutes I was back in Forklift.....
Qspace looks really promising, £/$5 in the app store. Has anyone here tried it and got an opinion on it?
QSpace - A Better Finder
QSpace is a clean and efficient Multi-Pane File Manager, also can be a FTP,SFTP,WebDAV,OneDrive client. It has the same operating habits and interface presentation as Finder, and supports more flexible and practical features.
qspace.awehunt.com
Yeah, that's what does it for me too. I'll contact the developer and see if they'll offer a trial.
This one does look promising... and for $5 (compared to $30-40 or more for PathFinder and ForkLift), I may give it a go, even without a trial version... $5 is $5, but then again, it's ONLY $5.
If I wasn't out of work I'd agree. But with the lack of employment and COVID causing issues I for one have to count each penny spent.
Having tried trial versions of other paid Finder alternatives, there's always that something that makes it not quite right... I'd be bummed to find out after paying up, even if it is just $5.
I have both Path Finder and ForkLift. Usually I just use ForkLift for remote stuff. Yesterday, I was doing so much remote stuff that I figured I'd try ForkList as a Path Finder replacement.
It seemed every bit as good as Path Finder using it that way except for one thing; in list view ForkLift doesn't retain the tree expansion state when you revisit a folder. So every time I visit a folder, the tree of folders underneath it are hidden. I have to expand the tree again to get to where I want to be. That is a deal breaker for me. Is there a setting that enables remembering the expansion state?
I was an early user of Path Finder. I liked it very much at first. But later releases introduced many bugs and memory problems and the customer support was dismal. Eventually I switched to ForkLift which met most of my needs but one: in icon view ForkLift can't show file size or image dimensions. Customer support said they had no plans to change that.
So, now I'm back to using Path Finder 10. It's early days, but many of the problems that irritated previously me seem to fixed. We'll see.
So, now I'm back to using Path Finder 10. It's early days, but many of the problems that irritated previously me seem to fixed. We'll see.
Another ForkLift irritant: If you're dragging a file into a folder in list view, you can only drag the file to the folder name. With Path Finder, you can drag the file anywhere in the folder including the enclosed file list. Perhaps an illustration would be better:
With Path Finder you have a very large target area for drag and drop.
![screenshot 2020-12-21 at 06.48.47.jpg]( "screenshot 2020-12-21 at 06.48.47.jpg")
With Fork Lift the target area is much smaller.
![screenshot 2020-12-21 at 06.50.55.jpg]( "screenshot 2020-12-21 at 06.50.55.jpg")
Also note that Path Finder displays the image dimensions and size while ForkLift does not.
With Path Finder you have a very large target area for drag and drop.
With Fork Lift the target area is much smaller.
Also note that Path Finder displays the image dimensions and size while ForkLift does not.
Interesting looking, but only being available through the MAS is a deal-breaker when there are plenty of alternatives that are available outside.
I prefer my apps downloaded rather than from the app store too. However, not a deal breaker for me, as the app has to be right. I've tried several alternatives available outside and didn't like any of them for various reasons.
Same here. PF has improved greatly and they added
Stuff That was missing badly. Lets see how FL Version 4 is coming along. I was told its still a Long way out
One major dislike I have with Pathfinder against Forklift is the Tab Handling. In Forklift the tab sets feel a lot better handled. Ideally I'd like both to have the option of opening a Tab set / Workspace (set as a default) on opening the app.
One dislike I do have with Forklift is that is seems you can't open a window, choose the fields you want to use, and set that as a default across all windows.
The Tabbed interface on Pathfinder is not as clean as it is with Forklift.
Pathfinder 10 has improved a lot though and it looking to be usable.
One dislike I do have with Forklift is that is seems you can't open a window, choose the fields you want to use, and set that as a default across all windows.
The Tabbed interface on Pathfinder is not as clean as it is with Forklift.
Pathfinder 10 has improved a lot though and it looking to be usable.
Have just switched to Forklift 3 after using TotalFinder for many happy years.
The SIP situation with TotalFinder and Big Sur prompted the change - and after some poking around in the settings I've got it pretty much the same i.e. dual pane bliss.
One drawback is the lack of a built in 'visor' function like TotalFinder - this is a keyboard shortcut (Totalfinder default was a double tap of the option key) which brings up the Totalfinder window at same size/position as previous - and will disappear as soon as you click on another window (or double tap Option again), or you can 'sticky' it by pressing on the blue button next to where the usual red/yellow/green ones are.
Good news is I've got that working in Forklift (set to Option-Z) by using a keyboard shortcut setting in Better Touch Tool (which is also one of the best things ever to improve and widen the versatility of the trackpad, touchbar, mouse, clipboard manager and keyboard shortcut manager etc etc)...
Other than that have to dig around and put some keyboard shortcuts in Forklift where they 'should' be ;-) (even move to trash was by default some weird setting instead of Command-delete), and of course Command-X set to Move files/folders...
The SIP situation with TotalFinder and Big Sur prompted the change - and after some poking around in the settings I've got it pretty much the same i.e. dual pane bliss.
One drawback is the lack of a built in 'visor' function like TotalFinder - this is a keyboard shortcut (Totalfinder default was a double tap of the option key) which brings up the Totalfinder window at same size/position as previous - and will disappear as soon as you click on another window (or double tap Option again), or you can 'sticky' it by pressing on the blue button next to where the usual red/yellow/green ones are.
Good news is I've got that working in Forklift (set to Option-Z) by using a keyboard shortcut setting in Better Touch Tool (which is also one of the best things ever to improve and widen the versatility of the trackpad, touchbar, mouse, clipboard manager and keyboard shortcut manager etc etc)...
Other than that have to dig around and put some keyboard shortcuts in Forklift where they 'should' be ;-) (even move to trash was by default some weird setting instead of Command-delete), and of course Command-X set to Move files/folders...
In my opinion, “EasyFind” does so much more than the default app and has always been able to find what I need. It is a free app.
It can find anything on your Mac. If finds items for me the stock finder can’t. It is an app.