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Ursadorable

macrumors 6502a
Jul 9, 2013
650
902
The Frozen North
My understanding is they removed the ability for programs to augment Finder. They really need to bring that back if they can do it in a secure manner.

ie: Add features to Finder, rather than a whole finder replacement.
 
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posguy99

macrumors 68020
Nov 3, 2004
2,282
1,531
My understanding is they removed the ability for programs to augment Finder. They really need to bring that back if they can do it in a secure manner.

ie: Add features to Finder, rather than a whole finder replacement.
No, they (Apple) blocked the security hole that allowed injection of code into the Finder process.
 

AZhappyjack

macrumors G3
Jul 3, 2011
9,726
22,883
Happy Jack, AZ
My understanding is they removed the ability for programs to augment Finder. They really need to bring that back if they can do it in a secure manner.

ie: Add features to Finder, rather than a whole finder replacement.

Default Folder X does an excellent job of extending Finder... it is not designed to be a Finder replacement... it still works great... the issue was not to limit apps that extend/augment Finder, but rather to fix a security issue.
 

allan.nyholm

macrumors 68020
Nov 22, 2007
2,287
2,517
Aalborg, Denmark
@Ursadorable I hope that Jonathan Potter can see the benefits of having DirectoryOpus on the Mac.. throughout the years I too have been lusting for a version of DOpus for the Mac.. the last time I communicated with Jonathan Potter he said something in the lines of
"I have no interest in making Directory Opus available for the Mac. Windows does all I want"

I could see his stance - He would first have to invest in a Mac and then learn the metrics of macOS and learn to deal with a whole new audience that would be quite demanding. PathFinder has fallen of the way-side and things that have been irritating me for many versions still exist in the current PathFinder releases. I was foolish enough to buy in to the PathFinder universe in the hopes of at least being heard when putting down money for their application.. crickets..

My communication with Jonathan Potter lies more than 5 years in the past and as such he might have changed his position on a version for macOS .. currently the closest to Dopus on macOS is ForkLift.
I forget which developer had an application out that in their comment about their app said(paraphrasing here) "We strive to be the equivavalent to DirectoryOpus on the Mac"
My immediate thought as to who the developers was that said this, are those making DiskOrder.

DirectoryOpus 12 on Windows is much more than just a filemanager as it can replace most functions that of File Explorer - and for me it's overwhelming.
In my Amiga days I recall a lot of debate on how to move the most beloved version (4.12) beyond what Jonathan Potter could do as he was apparently migrating over to Windows at that time and couldn't code for AmigaOS (I know that's a lot of me pulling from memory) DirectoryOpus 4.12 is still getting updated for the AROS platform and AmigaOS platforms.
Sourceforge keeps tabs on all that.

Many tried to copy Directory Opus 4.12 and later version 5.xx - the closest was probably Filer, DiskMaster 2 and 3 and DirWork 1 and 2. The latter was a chameleon of sorts as one could have a DOpus 4.12 or 5.xx apperance with almost endless possibilities. Really a fun time to be alive back then. Now? Not so much.

The two pane filemanager program worked quite well. Most longed however for replacing the Workbench desktop with Directory Opus or Scalos(which I was a huge fan of, still am) Scalos is also still being updated over on Sourgeforge

And btw.. GPSoft has the most Windows-like website I've seen in modern times.. a tiny frame with contents and information about their program and then a whole gradient surrounding that frame. If anyone has ever fallen into the "Windows software program download"-hole for what ever reason(perhaps having a BootCamp partition or Windows in a virtual machine) then you'll quickly notice that the developers doesn't put that much effort into their webappearance and most doesn't appear to know the meaning of the modern web or high resolution images in their finished product. Quite amusing seeing as Windows is still the dominant desktop operating system in the world; nay the known universe. Surely by now Microsoft and their team would have figured out that no one uses a 640px by 480px monitor resolution anymore.
 
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dbrewood

macrumors 6502a
Jun 8, 2018
663
221
Manchester, UK
Got to agree with all of that concerning Directory Opus. It as (and still is) a must have application on Windows. I'm hoping Jon will change his stance eventually but I have little confidence in it happening. I'm hoping that one day an ex-DOpus user joins Forklift as a developer and we see some strides forward.
I own both Pathfinder and Forklift and development on both seems to be painfully slow (compared to DOpus), no betas, no new features, no awesomeness.....
We have to live with what we have though alas.
 
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allan.nyholm

macrumors 68020
Nov 22, 2007
2,287
2,517
Aalborg, Denmark
Got to agree with all of that concerning Directory Opus. It as (and still is) a must have application on Windows. I'm hoping Jon will change his stance eventually but I have little confidence in it happening. I'm hoping that one day an ex-DOpus user joins Forklift as a developer and we see some strides forward.
I own both Pathfinder and Forklift and development on both seems to be painfully slow (compared to DOpus), no betas, no new features, no awesomeness.....
We have to live with what we have though alas.
I agree with you here.

I also now just remembered that Raskin was a "fun app" that I never got my head wrapped around despite the developers really going all in to explain why their "Raskin" approach was the way to experience macOS file and folder structure. I don't think it ever caught on - that was until I noticed them still working on the app. Someone must be using it - other than the developers themselves.
 

MacBH928

macrumors G3
May 17, 2008
8,359
3,739
I never heard of Directory Opus but if its so good, maybe he can hire or some mac developer request to use its name and develop a version for it for the MacOS. If all else fails, well, some developer can mimic something similar unless it has some genius coding behind it or something
 

tosbsas

macrumors 65816
Nov 22, 2008
1,271
426
Lima, Peru
Got to agree with all of that concerning Directory Opus. It as (and still is) a must have application on Windows. I'm hoping Jon will change his stance eventually but I have little confidence in it happening. I'm hoping that one day an ex-DOpus user joins Forklift as a developer and we see some strides forward.
I own both Pathfinder and Forklift and development on both seems to be painfully slow (compared to DOpus), no betas, no new features, no awesomeness.....
We have to live with what we have though alas.
PF is betatesting and very cool contact with devs - FL is still not in beta - they are saying that since 8/20
 

dbrewood

macrumors 6502a
Jun 8, 2018
663
221
Manchester, UK
I never heard of Directory Opus but if its so good, maybe he can hire or some mac developer request to use its name and develop a version for it for the MacOS. If all else fails, well, some developer can mimic something similar unless it has some genius coding behind it or something

Alas I don't think he has any interest in moving development forward in that direction.

PF is betatesting and very cool contact with devs - FL is still not in beta - they are saying that since 8/20
Good news on that, I guess it's not easy to join the team?
 

AppleSmack

macrumors 6502
Jun 30, 2010
336
114
Just downloaded and tried Raskin. Looks interesting, but couldn't actually make it interact with any files and nothing seemed to be clickable. Uninstalled.
 

allan.nyholm

macrumors 68020
Nov 22, 2007
2,287
2,517
Aalborg, Denmark
Just downloaded and tried Raskin. Looks interesting, but couldn't actually make it interact with any files and nothing seemed to be clickable. Uninstalled.
On first launch Raskin asks for permission to look for and operate on your files and folders. I allowed the whole system disk.

Might be an oversight there for you?
 

AZhappyjack

macrumors G3
Jul 3, 2011
9,726
22,883
Happy Jack, AZ
So which is more stable/solid ForkLift or Pathfinder?

That is hard to answer, as it's a moving target.

I was all in on Pathfinder for a couple of years... but I began to experience issues, bugs and general wonkiness. So I moved to ForkLift. I have been very happy with that decision, and have no plans to return to Pathfinder or switch to any other file manager. But with that said, I am hearing that Pathfinder is once again trying to improve the stability of their product. I am sure that there are some who say ForkLift is full of bugs and issues... but for me, I haven't experienced anything significant... and their (ForkLift's) support has been great. Ultimately it comes down to personal preferences and personal tolerance for the occasional (or not so occasional) weirdness.

Both offer trial periods with the full-blown tool, so download them both and test drive them for yourself.
 

svenmany

macrumors demi-god
Jun 19, 2011
2,066
1,339
I am jumping back and forth- New pF is cool and works perfect. fL is still not updated to Version 4 and so far no beta

Are there particular new features that you are waiting for in version 4? I did see on their blog that Forklift 4 marks the beginning of their new pricing model. They said it will be released in Spring 2021.
 

MacBH928

macrumors G3
May 17, 2008
8,359
3,739
Always worrying that! Might be looking at SetApp again when that happens.

As long as its not subscription then no issues. As for SetApp, its a great idea but personally most apps there I have no use for and the 2-3 apps I want I rather buy them out right instead of being tied to a subscription. Plus, will the apps continue working if there is no internet connection!?
 

dbrewood

macrumors 6502a
Jun 8, 2018
663
221
Manchester, UK
As long as its not subscription then no issues. As for SetApp, its a great idea but personally most apps there I have no use for and the 2-3 apps I want I rather buy them out right instead of being tied to a subscription. Plus, will the apps continue working if there is no internet connection!?
Yep agreed I've trialled SetApp and there are nearly enough apps for it to be viable. Hmm I'd not thought about the internet connectivity part of the system. Good point.
 
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