It's a lot today: File Explorer rant
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On the lighter side, I have used midnight commander via WSL. ;)
>64 Some days the dragon wins. Suck it up.
This smells like Linux, doesn't it ?
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This smells like Linux, doesn't it ?
sniff, sniff. Yup, guilty as charged. But it is running on Winders and accessing my C and E drives. WSL/Ubuntu/mc (I didn't say it was smart) :)
>64 Some days the dragon wins. Suck it up.
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While maybe not the most handy, I could do with a DOS console. And batch files :-D . As for replacement, I have been a user of Total commander as long as I can think about, but any clone of it would do - I still fail to see how a file explorer can have a one pane-view only, so clumsy a copy function that can still result in corrupting file (in 2022), no way to rename multiple file or file extensions properly, etc... The windows file explorer is apparently doing its job, but a close look make it easy to see that it lacks about everything, unless your typical use case is "navigate - click to open a file".
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Rage wrote:
I still fail to see how a file explorer can have a one pane-view only
Apparently, a tabbed view is in preview for W11. Whether it will make the light of day remains to be seen.
They waited long enough for dual monitors to make it not interesting anymore, but nah...
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sniff, sniff. Yup, guilty as charged. But it is running on Winders and accessing my C and E drives. WSL/Ubuntu/mc (I didn't say it was smart) :)
>64 Some days the dragon wins. Suck it up.
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What would you suggest then? A DOS Console?
Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.
Q-Dir History Q-Dir - The Quad Explorer for MS OS[^] I used PowerDesk for ~15 years, but the last owner (company was acquired 3 or 4 times, I lost count) stopped paying attention to it, so I hunted around. Q-Dir isn't perfect, but the developer (one-man shop, AFAIK) maintains it well, and produces dozens of other small applications.
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From next room, herself asked, "Where's my mapped drive?" I asked, "are you in File Explorer?" "Yes" "Do you see _This PC_?...Do you see the little greater-than sign so you can click to expand the item?" "No. I don't see any greater-than signs..." I'm forced to get up. "Oh, for Fox sake! 🦊🦊 You have to float into that region now because they disappear!!" UI elements that disappear are so stupid. :mad::mad: Please change the world and make all the disappearing UI elements disappear permanently!! :mad: This is definitely me today[^].
UX On phone making commenting difficult. Kudos to whom said "who uses File Explorer" and that "Files Preview" with tabs on is just too damn slow. Total Commander is the answer, worth it for over 10 years nag screen included.
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Rage wrote:
As for replacement, I have been a user of Total commander
HAHAHA :D
Rage wrote:
no way to rename multiple file or file extensions properly
It does; a quick extension in C# does that for me. No, I don't share, write your own.
Rage wrote:
The windows file explorer is apparently doing its job, but a close look make it easy to see that it lacks about everything, unless your typical use case is "navigate - click to open a file".
Ignoring rightlick and all extentions. I used DOpus on the Amiga. Total Comander? No, I'd prefer DOS over it. Easier, more powerful, simply better.
Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.
Eddy Vluggen wrote:
I used DOpus on the Amiga. Total Comander? No, I'd prefer DOS over it. Easier, more powerful, simply better.
DOpus is available on Windows and it's awesome. Directory Opus[^]
Regards Nelviticus
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UX On phone making commenting difficult. Kudos to whom said "who uses File Explorer" and that "Files Preview" with tabs on is just too damn slow. Total Commander is the answer, worth it for over 10 years nag screen included.
Takes me back to Norton Commander, which my fingers knew at the cellular level
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Thank you for sharing that you hadn't noticed that before either. This continuous update thing is just absolutely mind-boggling at times. If normal physics worked like Windows updates, farm animals would regularly appear on your desk & disappear, I guess. :rolleyes:
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What would you suggest then? A DOS Console?
Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.
Nah, I'd use Midnight Commander in a command prompt. ( Window-Key with R, type cmd, enter to get the dos(command) prompt then mc and enter to get an nice text based way to use your machine. Of couese you have to find it, download it, and install it in a directory that's on the path :wtf: :laugh:
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From next room, herself asked, "Where's my mapped drive?" I asked, "are you in File Explorer?" "Yes" "Do you see _This PC_?...Do you see the little greater-than sign so you can click to expand the item?" "No. I don't see any greater-than signs..." I'm forced to get up. "Oh, for Fox sake! 🦊🦊 You have to float into that region now because they disappear!!" UI elements that disappear are so stupid. :mad::mad: Please change the world and make all the disappearing UI elements disappear permanently!! :mad: This is definitely me today[^].
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From next room, herself asked, "Where's my mapped drive?" I asked, "are you in File Explorer?" "Yes" "Do you see _This PC_?...Do you see the little greater-than sign so you can click to expand the item?" "No. I don't see any greater-than signs..." I'm forced to get up. "Oh, for Fox sake! 🦊🦊 You have to float into that region now because they disappear!!" UI elements that disappear are so stupid. :mad::mad: Please change the world and make all the disappearing UI elements disappear permanently!! :mad: This is definitely me today[^].
I have a psychological answer for you... It's a phenomena I noticed decades ago... All People uses core senses (Visual (think geeks), Kinesthetic (think jocks), Auditory (think rockers)) Now, everyone possesses ALL 3 of these, but USUALLY 1 is primary. In Synesthesia, these are actually mixed (specific numbers associate with specific colors, etc). In MUSICIANS, these are STRONGLY Blended. So, the challenge is this. Visual (and Hyper Visual) people can process and IGNORE visual input quickly/easily. But Kinesthetic and Auditory people are not as good as this (Although, Auditory people can hear a piece of music, and ISOLATE just the FLUTE, incredibly easily... I have a friend, he can focus on, and literally only hear that instrument. Crazy. It's a BLUR to my ears. LOL) Therefore, complex screens with too many items OVERWHELM about 2/3rds of the people looking at them! Even Visual People, the first time, have to learn to "CHUNK" the screens of information, and apply "selective attention". which they readily and easily do. So, envisioning a world, where the number of items you can interact with is MINIMIZED Helps to NOT Overwhelm the majority of users. At the expense of those of us (usually programmers, LOL), that prefer to see it all... Again, I ended up learning about this, because I found a GROUP of people who HATED some "Great" software I had written. Now, all the users who were like me (visual), LOVED the software. The strong love/hate confused the heck out of me. But that's when I noticed the Haters were a mashup of people who spoke a bit slower, some where really physical (gym rats, or skate boarders)... My research led me to understand these groups better. I made some MODEST changes to the software to reduce the Visual Intensity/Complexity of the screen... And the HATERS slowly converted... And I became better at writing software for ALL types of users... That said. At no POINT in my WILDEST Imagination, did I think "use Time/Space in such a way that the mouse position, or the angle to their eyeballs should be used in what I display on screen"... I TRULY HATE these things going away. The HIDING SCROLLBAR... yeah, I get it, it just takes up space, but I simply cannot see it unless my mouse hits it, and it's really hard to tell a user to click on something they cannot see! [In many new programs, I will hit the ALT key, just to see if the Menu Activates, so I can more easily direct users] I think that was the first example of "Hiding Things until needing them"
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raddevus wrote:
Yes, and it is terrible! I'm not sure what they gain by making them disappear?? :confused:
The same thing that led Microsoft to invent Bob and Clippy. Computers are hard, so to turn them into universal consumer products, they must be simultaneously dumbed down and made to anticipate the needs and desires of the least-skilled users. Showing the contents of the computer as a hierarchical set of folders and files would just confuse the noobs, so they hide them. In fact, here's an article about exactly that. Students don't know what files and folders are, professors say | PC Gamer[^]
Isn't that what Apple tried to do with the Mac?
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I have a psychological answer for you... It's a phenomena I noticed decades ago... All People uses core senses (Visual (think geeks), Kinesthetic (think jocks), Auditory (think rockers)) Now, everyone possesses ALL 3 of these, but USUALLY 1 is primary. In Synesthesia, these are actually mixed (specific numbers associate with specific colors, etc). In MUSICIANS, these are STRONGLY Blended. So, the challenge is this. Visual (and Hyper Visual) people can process and IGNORE visual input quickly/easily. But Kinesthetic and Auditory people are not as good as this (Although, Auditory people can hear a piece of music, and ISOLATE just the FLUTE, incredibly easily... I have a friend, he can focus on, and literally only hear that instrument. Crazy. It's a BLUR to my ears. LOL) Therefore, complex screens with too many items OVERWHELM about 2/3rds of the people looking at them! Even Visual People, the first time, have to learn to "CHUNK" the screens of information, and apply "selective attention". which they readily and easily do. So, envisioning a world, where the number of items you can interact with is MINIMIZED Helps to NOT Overwhelm the majority of users. At the expense of those of us (usually programmers, LOL), that prefer to see it all... Again, I ended up learning about this, because I found a GROUP of people who HATED some "Great" software I had written. Now, all the users who were like me (visual), LOVED the software. The strong love/hate confused the heck out of me. But that's when I noticed the Haters were a mashup of people who spoke a bit slower, some where really physical (gym rats, or skate boarders)... My research led me to understand these groups better. I made some MODEST changes to the software to reduce the Visual Intensity/Complexity of the screen... And the HATERS slowly converted... And I became better at writing software for ALL types of users... That said. At no POINT in my WILDEST Imagination, did I think "use Time/Space in such a way that the mouse position, or the angle to their eyeballs should be used in what I display on screen"... I TRULY HATE these things going away. The HIDING SCROLLBAR... yeah, I get it, it just takes up space, but I simply cannot see it unless my mouse hits it, and it's really hard to tell a user to click on something they cannot see! [In many new programs, I will hit the ALT key, just to see if the Menu Activates, so I can more easily direct users] I think that was the first example of "Hiding Things until needing them"
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Isn't that what Apple tried to do with the Mac?
