From BinaryAge comes an application called TotalFinder. This is an app that enhances the experience. Let us look at the features that it offers first.
1. We are all used to the multi-tabbed browsing, where we open up multiple tabs in a window and each tab holds a web page of our choice, now why should file browsing be any different? Rather than have little windows open all over the place, tabbed file browsing is a welcome feature. However there is a small issue, this could be mainly due to the fact that this was tested on a SnowLeopard machine and the fact that there are multiple workspaces present. So rather than open a new window on each workspace, it changes the workspace to the one that has the window open and opens a new tab, this is slightly inconvenient. The saving grace on that little irritation is that you can tear the tab out of the window and move it to another workspace.
2. I am not sure how many were around when there was CP/M and DOS, they used to have file managers that allowed for two browser windows side by side like in MuCommander (reminds me of Norton Commander and DOS File Manager) This dual mode is also generally seen in FTP type programs where one pane displays the device directories and the other the remote server directories. This is quite useful when comparing directories or copying file between the two.
3. This also adds special features like having the folders on top int the listing, so that is a new way to sort your listing. There is also the feature to view system files.
4. There is a feature called visor, this is similar to some other apps like SideFolders, this provides a finder window that can be invoked by the press of a hotkey. Similar to what windows users use as the Win+E to invoke explorer.
5. Having worked with Windows for a very long time, it was but natural that select the files, press ⌘+C and then in the destination folder, press ⌘+V and the files would get copied, however the hot keys do not work with OSX and the way would be to actually invoke the context menu and select the menu option to copy or paste. Total Finder has the option to add buttons to cut/copy and paste into the context menu.
6. This is perhaps trivial to some but quite important to some, for my projects I use GIT, because I use the terminal quite a lot it does not really matter much to me, but lets say I wanted to see the git repository, or see the dotfiles, (the files that start with a dot, also called system files on *nix variants which are hidden from the system) This is useful to navigate to the directories like /usr or /var which is otherwise difficult from finder unless of course you use the go to folder option ⌘+⇧+G and then type in the path. This shall also show you the dreaded plague of OSX files, the .DS_Store. I am sure that this is important otherwise Apple would have removed the generation of these files, this to me is similar to the thumbs.db created in windows.
One of the plug-ins that came with Total Finder, (now only available for Lion, not Snow Leopard) called Asepsis removes the creation of all .DS_Store files in the local folders, instead it redirects them to a fixed location.
All in all, Total Finder is a little gem of an app that will not change the world, but will definitely add to removing some limitations that you might face trying to use Finder. However a word of caution, I am unsure if it related to Total Finder or otherwise, Finder ends up using about half of my physical RAM over a couple of sleeps and gets quite slow...
There is a Try before you buy trial app that allows you to try the app for about 14 days. The app costs just $18, which is quite nominal for the functionalities offered. However there are specials like if you buy Total finder for $36, you get three licenses, which means each copy costs you $12, so you can offer a copy to a friend or family at a discount, call it a discount of 33% or Buy 2 and get 1 free.
There are plenty of apps that do similar stuff, some more expensive than Total Finder, however the one major advantage in all of this is that with Total Finder, you are still working with Finder. There is no learning curve. Plus if you are a developer that believes in good karma, then buying this app not only supports future features but also encourages development of more such applications. There are a lot of features that are on the wish list and hoping that as they get integrated, Total Finder will only become better.
SUMMARY
Software : Total Finder
Version : 1.3.2
Publisher : Binary Age
Website : http://totalfinder.binaryage.com/
Twitter : @BinaryAge
Platform : Mac OS X (10.6.x or higher)
Demo : 14 days
Price : $18.00
Total Finder
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