File managers

[Harrison]

Do you use a file manager, and if so what do you use?

Ever since Directory Opus 4 on the Amiga I have been a big fan of Opus and still use it, but now on the PC. Directory Opus 8 is a huge improvement over the standard Explorer built into Windows and is far better than any standard OS file management I've ever used.

The biggest thing I like about Opus is its speed. In the standard Windows Explorer you sometimes have to wait quite a long time for the system to look through the files in a directory before it decided what to show them as, but in Opus everything is smooth and fast. And handling files for previewing is much more seamless, with direct zip handling like directories, and much better built in thumbnail and preview options, including very quick video, image, audio and pdf viewings, plus very close integration with Office and Open Office applications. I've also found that PDFs now work much more smoothly with DOpus with Acrobat 8 Pro. Adobe finally seem to have made Acrobat stable which is good. Plus a bonus for any developers is previews of html, php and other text based script files.

The other option to fully switch the standard explorer with DOpus is also really worthwhile doing as you gain so much over that standard file management of Windows and lose nothing I can think of.

So do any of you also use a file manager? I know that Teho is also a DOpus fan.

[Demon Cleaner]

I use the normal windows explorer, but could try another file manager out. Is Opus free? So maybe I should test it.

[Teho]

No, DOpus is not free. Sorry Demon, can't have everything for free. It actually costs a bit if I recall correctly, around 50 euros. But you can try it for a full 60 days for free, and that's the full version you're trying then. Nothing is removed from the demo.

And after those 60 days, I guarantee you you'll find that it's well worth the money.

Get it at www.gpsoft.com.au

[Demon Cleaner]

I will definitely try it out. I don't need many features, that's why I always used the normal windows explorer. I'm gonna install it tomorrow on my PC at work, so I will have the time to test it, if I can run it for 60 days without any restriction is fine. (I also found a copy at the notorious bay ).

[Harrison]

I guarantee you will like it. The combined integration of file management all in one place really does make things much easier.

Plus you also have all of the customisation in exactly the same way as the Amiga original. You can create your own buttons for anything you like, so could link them to specific utilities or command line commands if required.

[Stephen Coates]

I'm quite happy with Workbench.

[TiredOfLife]

Still using 5.5 on the Miggy.
Would be interested in looking at v8 on the pc

[Harrison]

Have you customised Workbench at all Steve? with some third party utilities such as docking or context sensitive menus? When I used to use Workbench as my main OS I used to customise it will all the best things I could find.

I forget the name of it, but there was one that replaced the Workbench menu system with a rightclick context menu so all of the menu options appears next to the mouse where ever you were on screen. Very useful.

Another thing that used to annoy me was how windows could not be moved beyond the edge of the screen. A little utility fixed that problem.

Also loads of custom icon packs for MUI made Workbench look much nicer.

[Submeg]

Not a big user of file managers. What do you guys use them for?

[Harrison]

Umm... Managing files surprisingly enough

File Managers are much better than Windows standard file explorer for copying files, moving them around, batch renaming, filing away in neat orders etc... Also great for quickly browsing through files, viewing them inside of the file manager.