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Finder is frustrating but this guy is just complaining about the fact that he's unable to organize his own files into directories in a way that lets him find th

Finder is frustrating but this guy is just complaining about the fact that he's unable to organize his own files into directories in a way that lets him find them later. He then calls himself a power user. Finder even has tags to help with this, which is more than most operating systems get

maltch 1mo ago
So true, so true. Every time I think I've got my structure set up properly, I then do something in haste, and can't find it later. Power user and file manager are two totally different things.
- rbanffy 1mo ago
  Not all data fits neatly into a hierarchy of boxes. But, if the person doesn’t know where the file is, Finder has a “Recent” virtual folder right a the top that’ll list all files the person worked on most recent on the top. I often use it to get to screenshots. There’s also a lot of basic operations that are there since the 1990s any power user would know.
greekrich92 1mo ago
Finder is terrible. Not sure why it's worth defending to the point of attacking someone who simpy made something which fills its gaps.
GiorgioG 1mo ago
He’s complaining…because he sells a solution to this problem. I hated Finder when I switched to Mac back in 2007. So much so I bought PathFinder. One thing that pissed me off and still does, is when I copy over a folder with the same name, it doesn’t merge the contents, it deletes everything in the existing folder. That’s not what I expected as a Windows user and it still seems like the wrong behavior almost 20 years later. I no longer use PathFinder, it had its own problems and bugs…but in general I find Finder pretty lacking.
- zitterbewegung 1mo ago
  If you do option while moving the file it merges both directories but even I didn't know this until I googled it.
  - Someone 1mo ago
    If you copy-paste a folder using the keyboard, a dialog pops up asking you whether to merge the contents. Totally inconsistent with drag-and—drop, but useful to know.
    - ShinyLeftPad 27d ago
      It asks that when dragging too.
- ShinyLeftPad 29d ago
  This is not true, it asks to merge or replace (though merge is not always available). It's like that for years already.
  - GiorgioG 27d ago
    It wasn't in 2007.
    - ShinyLeftPad 27d ago
      You wrote "still does", you haven't upgraded since 2007?
gkoberger 1mo ago
I understand your point, but "Finder" does make it harder to organize things. When you save, they hide away folder browser by default, make it really difficult to navigate to different folders, and push for a "just hit save and search for it later!" mentality. I agree you can overcome this, but you find yourself fighting against macOS a bit to do it. (Also, I'm surprised nobody's mentioned this isn't a blog post... it's an ad. So of course the issues are exaggerated a bit. The ironic part is I don't think the app actually solves the problems mentioned.)
- re 1mo ago
  I don't know where you get "really difficult" and "fighting against macOS" from. You only have to hit the disclosure arrow next to "Where" in the save dialog one time and it remembers it and shows it by default from then on. (Okay, maybe it's once per app? I don't remember for sure, but I can't remember the last time the save panel didn't show me the folder browser by default.)
  - gkoberger 1mo ago
    If you read the article, it talks from the perspective of "I help lots of friends and family with IT stuff". For most users, they wouldn't know how to get to the larger menu or that Cmd+Shft+G lets them type in a path.
    - deleted 1mo ago
      [deleted]
    - pwinnski 25d ago
      That's progressive disclosure, and it's usually considered to be a good thing for usability. Let's be clear: if you save something in macOS, by default you get: 1. a text field with something like "Untitled" already selected, but not the extension, so if you just start typing, the extension isn't replaced. 2. a text field for tags to make organization easier 3. a Where drop-down with recent locations, favorites, drives, etc. 4. a button with an arrow pointing down next to the "where" list. 5. depending on the app, probably a format drop-down. Friends and family who depend on "you're good with computers, right?" people like us, they get overwhelmed by too many choices. Here, macOS gives them five, only five, and the complaint is that most people ignore four of them! Give them the larger menu by default, and it's more options to ignore. If someone is saving every single file to their Desktop (/me shudders), then they are ignoring every bit of even a small, simple UI, so giving them a more complicated UI accomplishes nothing good. I said they're ignoring four of the five UI elements, but now I wonder how many of the files on the desktop are named "Untitled (38).pdf" or whatever. They could be ignoring all five!
imadtaieber 1mo ago
Finder sucks, information storing and retrieval should be frictionless
- nothingnm 1mo ago
  Pronouncing your name is like a drunk French guy saying "I'm outta beer"
deleted 29d ago
[deleted]

maltch 1mo ago

So true, so true. Every time I think I've got my structure set up properly, I then do something in haste, and can't find it later. Power user and file manager are two totally different things.

rbanffy 1mo ago
Not all data fits neatly into a hierarchy of boxes. But, if the person doesn’t know where the file is, Finder has a “Recent” virtual folder right a the top that’ll list all files the person worked on most recent on the top. I often use it to get to screenshots. There’s also a lot of basic operations that are there since the 1990s any power user would know.

greekrich92 1mo ago

Finder is terrible. Not sure why it's worth defending to the point of attacking someone who simpy made something which fills its gaps.

GiorgioG 1mo ago

He’s complaining…because he sells a solution to this problem. I hated Finder when I switched to Mac back in 2007. So much so I bought PathFinder. One thing that pissed me off and still does, is when I copy over a folder with the same name, it doesn’t merge the contents, it deletes everything in the existing folder. That’s not what I expected as a Windows user and it still seems like the wrong behavior almost 20 years later. I no longer use PathFinder, it had its own problems and bugs…but in general I find Finder pretty lacking.

zitterbewegung 1mo ago
If you do option while moving the file it merges both directories but even I didn't know this until I googled it.
- Someone 1mo ago
  If you copy-paste a folder using the keyboard, a dialog pops up asking you whether to merge the contents. Totally inconsistent with drag-and—drop, but useful to know.
  - ShinyLeftPad 27d ago
    It asks that when dragging too.
ShinyLeftPad 29d ago
This is not true, it asks to merge or replace (though merge is not always available). It's like that for years already.
- GiorgioG 27d ago
  It wasn't in 2007.
  - ShinyLeftPad 27d ago
    You wrote "still does", you haven't upgraded since 2007?

gkoberger 1mo ago

I understand your point, but "Finder" does make it harder to organize things. When you save, they hide away folder browser by default, make it really difficult to navigate to different folders, and push for a "just hit save and search for it later!" mentality. I agree you can overcome this, but you find yourself fighting against macOS a bit to do it. (Also, I'm surprised nobody's mentioned this isn't a blog post... it's an ad. So of course the issues are exaggerated a bit. The ironic part is I don't think the app actually solves the problems mentioned.)

re 1mo ago
I don't know where you get "really difficult" and "fighting against macOS" from. You only have to hit the disclosure arrow next to "Where" in the save dialog one time and it remembers it and shows it by default from then on. (Okay, maybe it's once per app? I don't remember for sure, but I can't remember the last time the save panel didn't show me the folder browser by default.)
- gkoberger 1mo ago
  If you read the article, it talks from the perspective of "I help lots of friends and family with IT stuff". For most users, they wouldn't know how to get to the larger menu or that Cmd+Shft+G lets them type in a path.
  - deleted 1mo ago
    [deleted]
  - pwinnski 25d ago
    That's progressive disclosure, and it's usually considered to be a good thing for usability. Let's be clear: if you save something in macOS, by default you get: 1. a text field with something like "Untitled" already selected, but not the extension, so if you just start typing, the extension isn't replaced. 2. a text field for tags to make organization easier 3. a Where drop-down with recent locations, favorites, drives, etc. 4. a button with an arrow pointing down next to the "where" list. 5. depending on the app, probably a format drop-down. Friends and family who depend on "you're good with computers, right?" people like us, they get overwhelmed by too many choices. Here, macOS gives them five, only five, and the complaint is that most people ignore four of them! Give them the larger menu by default, and it's more options to ignore. If someone is saving every single file to their Desktop (/me shudders), then they are ignoring every bit of even a small, simple UI, so giving them a more complicated UI accomplishes nothing good. I said they're ignoring four of the five UI elements, but now I wonder how many of the files on the desktop are named "Untitled (38).pdf" or whatever. They could be ignoring all five!

imadtaieber 1mo ago

Finder sucks, information storing and retrieval should be frictionless

nothingnm 1mo ago
Pronouncing your name is like a drunk French guy saying "I'm outta beer"

deleted 29d ago

[deleted]