Best Finder alternative

[svenmany]

My Finder does NOT respawn. I understand what you're saying, but that's simply not the way it works (for me, anyway). Perhaps it's because I'm quitting the Finder, not Force Quitting and not using the Kill command in the Terminal. I have no idea, but I can open Activity Monitor, then quit the Finder (clicking on the desktop and hitting Command+Q) and it disappears from the Activity Monitor list and does not reappear until I click the Finder icon in the Dock to "relaunch" it.

The only thing I can think of is that I have Onyx installed and have the "Show Quit Finder" option turned on:

I get the same behavior as you. I don't have Onyx or any similar software installed. I have not set the option to have the Quit Finder menu item, which one can do from the terminal.

When you kill it the process is respawned.

Kill, using "kill" or "killall" terminal command, sends a signal to the process (SIGTERM by default). Quitting Finder via Activity Monitor appears not to work that way.

 

[HDFan]

When I stop Finder from Activity Monitor, it does not start again. If I kill it from the Terminal with the "killall" command, it does.

Kill, using "kill" or "killall" terminal command, sends a signal to the process (SIGTERM by default). Quitting Finder via Activity Monitor appears not to work that way.

Stand corrected in so many ways. Have always killed via the "Force Quit" dialogue box which causes a respawn. Assumed it was using the standard kill commands which it obviously isn't. As stated if you kill the process in Activity monitor it does not respawn. Application dialogue boxes do work even though Finder is not running.

So it looks as if Finder is just a user file system viewer with no other function?

 

[it wasnt me]

I find it amazing how this thread diverted from talking about Finder alternatives to “how to use Finder?”.

Unsubscribed.

 

[svenmany]

I find it amazing how this thread diverted from talking about Finder alternatives to “how to use Finder?”.

Unsubscribed.

In this case we're talking about how to stop using the Finder. Once someone settles on an alternative the question of how to stop Finder from running might naturally arise. Thanks for leaving rather than trying to censor it.

 

[MacGizmo]

It appears, according to the dev's blog post and comments, that Forklift Beta 11 will be the last beta before shipping the final release. At this point it's 100% stable for me.

 

[Wheel_D]

Thanks for this thread; as a Windows refugee, I find it quite useful.

As far as Windows software, you all have mentioned Directory Opus, but another fabulous file manager--one of the best--is Xplorer2. Indeed, Xplorer2 has certain advantages over Directory Opus, such as being more compact and less costly.

And no--I have no connection with the software or its maker beyond being an ordinary user.

Thanks again.

 

[svenmany]

Path Finder, ForkLift, and Finder all share a common feature; they have a list view that can show subfolders alongside the folders and files being displayed. Which other Finder replacements do that? I've taken a look at so many of the suggested programs and none that I've checked have that.

 

[Eric Idle]

Using the terminal commands sent to me, I bricked my Mac. I guess that's one way to eliminate the finder but I was hoping for something less drastic. Now my nice new MacBook pro won't boot.

 

[theorist9]

Using the terminal commands sent to me, I bricked my Mac. I guess that's one way to eliminate the finder but I was hoping for something less drastic. Now my nice new MacBook pro won't boot.

Ouch! You can follow these steps (sounds like your issue is #4 or #5) and, if that doesn't work, call Apple Support and/or go to a Genius Bar.

If your Mac doesn't turn on - Apple Support

If your Mac doesn't seem to turn on after you press the power button, follow these steps.

support.apple.com

 

[Diskutant]

Path Finder, ForkLift, and Finder all share a common feature; they have a list view that can show subfolders alongside the folders and files being displayed. Which other Finder replacements do that?

QSpace does it.

 

[AZhappyjack]

Forklift 4 has been released.

 

[svenmany]

QSpace does it.

Tried it. It's impressive. The "Buy" button confused me at first. It seemed to only offer Chinese currency. But, if I select PayPal it switches to US.

Can you rename workspaces? If so, then I'll probably buy it.

-- Edit --

I figured out how to rename workspaces.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Forklift 4 has been released.

Thanks. Will download later today. How do you like it compared to version 3?

 

[AZhappyjack]

Thanks. Will download later today. How do you like it compared to version 3?

Just installed it... haven't done much with it yet... still exploring and poking around... I did not run any of their betas, so I'm starting v4 from scratch.

 

[hunkster]

Just installed it... haven't done much with it yet... still exploring and poking around... I did not run any of their betas, so I'm starting v4 from scratch.

I'll be installing it to try. So far what do you think?
Any beachballing going on?

I've been using Path Finder but finding that it keeps beachballing when accessing folders.

 

[AZhappyjack]

I'll be installing it to try. So far what do you think?
Any beachballing going on?

I've been using Path Finder but finding that it keeps beachballing when accessing folders.

It's decent... nothing that sets the world on fire, and so far, no major issues... IMO, not sure it's much of an update, TBH... just a different look.

I have pretty basic needs for this.

I have a NAS that sometimes causes beachballing... but it did on FL3, as well. Not seeing any of that otherwise.

 

[svenmany]

Tried it. It's impressive. The "Buy" button confused me at first. It seemed to only offer Chinese currency. But, if I select PayPal it switches to US.

Can you rename workspaces? If so, then I'll probably buy it.

-- Edit --

I figured out how to rename workspaces.

I purchased QSpace pro. It is fabulous - perfect for my needs. The workspace feature is so powerful. It also offers a lot of high powered tweaks that allow me to retain settings when working in list mode. It also supports up to four panes in one window.

The more I explore, the more I discover settings that deal with the annoyances I've always had with Finder. The developer is clearly on the same wavelength as I am.

I tried the release of ForkLift 4. It's really not even close. In fact, as I typed this post, I got a popup that said ForkLift 4 quit unexpectedly.

 

[hunkster]

It's decent... nothing that sets the world on fire, and so far, no major issues... IMO, not sure it's much of an update, TBH... just a different look.

I have pretty basic needs for this.

I have a NAS that sometimes causes beachballing... but it did on FL3, as well. Not seeing any of that otherwise.

I tested it quite a lot today, and Forklift 4 is very basic.

Good:
1. One big thing to me is that it doesn't beachball when accessing remote drives and when waiting for external hard disks to wake up.
2. Another Pro is the search is very fast, even one network drives.

Not Good:
1. Even the app's Settings look basic. Not a lot of customization options.
2. Also, if you open more tabs, the new tabs get hidden because there isn't enough space to fit. There's no scroll button - seems to be a bug. Would have preferred to be able to customize the size of the fonts as the tab headers are unnecessarily big.
3. Folder sizes are not displayed. You have to click the i button for each folder then click Calculate to find out the size.

Hopefully they will be adding more features soon.

 

[Janichsan]

Not Good:
1. Even the app's Settings look basic. Not a lot of customization options.

The settings are identical to ForkLift 3's, just with a different layout.

2. Also, if you open more tabs, the new tabs get hidden because there isn't enough space to fit. There's no scroll button - seems to be a bug.

When you have a Macbook, Magic Trackpad, or (probably) Magic Mouse, you can scroll through the tabs by swiping left and right. It's the same in FL3 – and, amongst others, the Finder.

If there's no way to scroll through the tabs with a standard mouse with a simple mousewheel that would definitely be an oversight.

3. Folder sizes are not displayed. You have to click the i button for each folder then click Calculate to find out the size.

It's same as in the Finder or in FL3: you have to check "Calculate Folder Sizes" in the View Option (cmd+J) first – and probably want to set this as default.

I'm not really a fan of FL4 now following the same single window design philosphy as Apple's own applications, with for instance the Activity display no longer being a separate, floating window but a screen space consuming additional sidebar.

Apart from that and the general visual redesign, FL4 seems virtually identical to the previous version. Same functions, and pretty much the same performance. I honestly don't see much reasons to upgrade right now (other than maybe the desire to support the developers).

 

[AZhappyjack]

I tested it quite a lot today, and Forklift 4 is very basic.

Good:
1. One big thing to me is that it doesn't beachball when accessing remote drives and when waiting for external hard disks to wake up.
2. Another Pro is the search is very fast, even one network drives.

Not Good:
1. Even the app's Settings look basic. Not a lot of customization options.
2. Also, if you open more tabs, the new tabs get hidden because there isn't enough space to fit. There's no scroll button - seems to be a bug. Would have preferred to be able to customize the size of the fonts as the tab headers are unnecessarily big.
3. Folder sizes are not displayed. You have to click the i button for each folder then click Calculate to find out the size.

Hopefully they will be adding more features soon.

One more for the "Not Good" category - pricing moved to a modified subscription model, with no discount for a current customer upgrading...

 

[tosbsas]

One more for the "Not Good" category - pricing moved to a modified subscription model, with no discount for a current customer upgrading...

discount for current users is on the way. They apologized

 

[tosbsas]

QSpace looks nice, but it wouldn't even read my iCloud Drive correctly. I love FL

 

[Diskutant]

QSpace looks nice, but it wouldn't even read my iCloud Drive correctly.

I had no problems with that so far. What exactly does it read falsely?

 

[AZhappyjack]

discount for current users is on the way. They apologized

Not true. No discount... they are giving you 100 extra days of updates (on top of the introductory offer of 100 extra days - giving current users a total of 200 extra days of updates) ... and the cynic in me asks that since they control the update cycle, how many updates do you really expect in that "free" extension period?

Showing Appreciation to Our Loyal Users – An Important Update

At Binarynights, we greatly value the input and loyalty of our long-standing users. After the release of ForkLift 4 we have received extensive feedback from our dedicated user base expressing their…

blog.binarynights.com

 

[svenmany]

QSpace looks nice, but it wouldn't even read my iCloud Drive correctly. I love FL

QSpace shows more folders in my iCloud Drive than ForkLift does. I think ForkLift doesn't bother showing empty folders, which is a problem. To be fair, Finder also only shows a subset of folders, though more than those shown by ForkLift. On my computer, QSpace's iCloud drive support seems better than ForkLift's.