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Finder is so frustrating and has been since day one

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Re: Finder is so frustrating and has been since day one

#201

Post by klodolph »

NinjaTrance wrote: post #195
klodolph wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a Mac user since the 1980s, I feel feel like Finder is easily best in class, even after ten or fifteen years of design. I would describe Windows Explorer as “embarrassingly bad” in comparison, despite having a good hold on the shortcuts. I honestly think it is a matter of what you like rather than what is good or bad.

> As a Mac user since the 1980s, I feel feel like Finder is easily best in class Once internal muscle memory is established, the usability problems can be easily dismissed; but for the rest of us, who got used to better file managers, Finder is atrocious. As a Windows user in the 90s, Linux user in the 2000s, and Mac user since the 2010s, I dread the moments when I have to use Finder.

What do you like about the other file managers over the Finder?

Finder has column view and quicklook. If there’s something that I’m missing out on from, say, Explorer or Thunar or whatever, I’d love to hear it. Whenever I have to sort through a lot of files on Linux or Windows, I get a better experience by exporting a SMB share and sorting on a Mac.

The only file managers that I’ve used that felt competitive with the Mac are tools like Midnight Commander (or the original Norton version).

Re: Finder is so frustrating and has been since day one

#203

Post by gherkinnn »

> So I built a custom app for him: a drawer that eliminates folder hierarchy and location knowledge

Fair, that is something I've observed since the introduction of iOS, where most users don't navigate folders and open files, but flip it and open an app and browse the recent files.

As for Finder itself, the column view and hit-space-to-preview is all I want for my basic needs and I miss it whenever I have to use Windows. Can't speak to other systems.

Re: Finder is so frustrating and has been since day one

#204

Post by eszed »

MokaAkashiya wrote: post #154
etrautmann wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A path bar anywhere in the interface? I also want this to be able to copy a file’s path. Right now I’m not even sure how to do that aside from cmd-i to get info and then clunkily drag select the parent dir to copy. Repeat for the file name. Am I insane or is there a better way? Just use terminal? For a time I used pathfinder which had a feature to copy the full path but I ended up hating the subscription and constant…

Surprisingly nobody suggested yet to just select file in Finder and press Option-Cmd-C to copy file path.

Whoa! Twenty-year+ Mac user, and I never knew that trick. Thank you for that.

Re: Finder is so frustrating and has been since day one

#205

Post by zug_zug »

snsisnwjxnwjd wrote: post #190
x2tyfi wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another option, if you already have terminal open, is to drag the file/folder from Finder into your terminal window. The path will be pasted there.

Yep. Many different options available. Seems to me most complaining about finder haven’t actually bothered to give it the benefit of the learning-curve they’ve given to other file managers. Explorer is so far behind Finder it’s ridiculous, yet people somehow think it is better? C’mon.

What are you talking about? Like I've said I've been using finder for 15 years and most of these things people are talking have absolutely no discoverability.

Like is the mac UI really supposed to be "Get frustrated, google it, and read how to do these things and special keyboard shortcuts/drag-and-drop/etc"?

To be clear I think macs are by far the superior product on the hardware front, but nobody should be discovering new UI tricks after 3 years, let alone a decade.

Re: Finder is so frustrating and has been since day one

#207

Post by bigstrat2003 »

kdidjsidjejd wrote: post #191
everyone wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imo tech companies want people to be as tech-illiterate as possible. Tech illiterate people will not realise how the tech company did extra work to make their product less capable and less empowering to the user in favour of being more beneficial and empowering to the tech company itself. Obfuscating the file system has been a popular move in this regard. A file system is so elegant and empowering and useful for so m…

You greybeard wannabes all have a serious problem: you think tech is made for you and for you alone. Once computers became accessible beyond the hobbyist, enthusiast or professional it became a necessity to guarantee that those people that click on anything they are told to click cannot break their computers simply working the file explorar app. It’s not a bug. It’s a feature. You can still do whatever you want with…

People who were not hobbyists learned to use computers, in large numbers, so I don't think your conclusion is accurate. Anyone can learn this stuff with a bare minimum of effort.

Re: Finder is so frustrating and has been since day one

#208

Post by g8425 »

alsetmusic wrote: post #87
muppetman wrote: post #28

As a Windows user for years until 2 years ago, I can’t believe how unusable finder is. It’s just terrible. I feel like it actively hides the filesystem from you at every turn. Windows was bad but at least Explorer (windows 10 version anyway) let you easily SEE the file system I’m sure as hell not buying a subscription project to fix that though lololol

This may be of use: > defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool true Change to `false` to reverse it. You have to `killall Finder` or force quit it for each to take effect. Also, Shift-Command-. (dot) in Finder. You can find a lot of useful settings that can be adjusted to your preferred mode digging through this repo (not affiliated): https://github.com/mathiasbynens/dotfiles

Damn that is a useful repo... Thank you for sharing!

Re: Finder is so frustrating and has been since day one

#209

Post by SebastianKra »

muppetman wrote: post #28

As a Windows user for years until 2 years ago, I can’t believe how unusable finder is. It’s just terrible. I feel like it actively hides the filesystem from you at every turn. Windows was bad but at least Explorer (windows 10 version anyway) let you easily SEE the file system I’m sure as hell not buying a subscription project to fix that though lololol

Explorer has

- no columns view

- no quick look

- freezes for 5 seconds when you accidentally drag over a disconnected network location

- when opening a files, doesn't let you drag in an file to select it.

- no shortcut for toggling hidden files

- no tabs until Win 11

- no tags

- no sorting by "date added"

This was mostly a check for myself to see if I had Stockholm syndrome. But I keep finding more reasons to prefer Finder.

Re: Finder is so frustrating and has been since day one

#210

Post by ktpsns »

sho_hn wrote: post #128
doubled112 wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dolphin in KDE has to be one of my favourite GUI file managers ever. Simple to use until you need it to be complicated, then it probably does what you’re looking for.

Our KDE development motto (and a contrast explained in our HIG) is "Simple by default, powerful when needed". It's nice to see someone re-state it so naturally and eloquently in the wild!

Thank you so much for Dolphin!

I have been a hardcore Konqueror user back in the days. Early dolphin felt like a back step. Nowadays, thought, it easily outshines Konqueror. I still miss a few KIOs which were showcased in Konqueror. I guess they were discontinued.

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