macos - Alternative File Managers on Mac OS X

I find that the Finder is pretty annoying, even though I've found stuff to add a terminal open command to it, and a copyPath function... but it's still annoying.

I'm thinking about actually biting the bullet and buying Path Finder, as it seems quite good.

1. Anybody like/dislike Path Finder particularly?


2. Any other file managers worth recommending?

I've checked out Forklift, but it seemed to not have a find function, and MuManager which is cool but it's written in Java, which is fatal for a file manager (lack of system integration).

Edit: I know that I should explain what I don't like about the Finder, since it does work and it is fast. Most of what I don't like is a "feel" thing: I've always got all these windows open and none of them is looking at the right location. Or I get someplace good and then I realize that I want open another window from there. You cannot right click to open in a tab nor another Window, you cannot right click to open in terminal nor to copy the path (though I have plugins for that)... but there are lists about this stuff, or I could just list pathfinder's features too...

A new-file command!

Also, you do not have a type-in-able SMART location bar with each finder window (though the go-to location exists, it is NOT the idea whatsoever... in Pathfinder it at least suggests as you go, which even the bash shell itself has!)

Answer

I've tried, and really disliked Path Finder. The major thing was it seemed very slow compared to Finder. And the UI is somewhat overwhelming, though some features like the stack are very helpful. Additionally, much prefer dual-pane management which Path Finder didn't do when I tried it.

I then used to use muCommander, which is really nice, and honestly didn't have any problems with it being a Java app other than the UI being different. I think the muCommander developers have done a great job, but then I tried Forklift...

Forklift does everything I want and more, it is very fast and core features and OS X integration are solid; though remember it is still a V1.x product.. What particular Find functionality are you missing — it currently does a spotlight search, allowing search by name, kind, extension etc:

Do you want more power? If so, then V2 will include a regex recursive search tool as well as the Spotlight search:

http://www.binarynights.com/blog/forklift_blog/part-3-searching-for-files-in-forklift-2-0.html

Others to try:

• XFile — the demo was horribly limited so gave up on it...


• Leap — has a great tagging UI, uses Open Meta


• XFolders