5 ms·

Two features that Windows has that Finder doesn't, and annoy me all the time in my workflow are: 1)Finder search refuses to show the path for the files except

by guelo 12y ago

Two features that Windows has that Finder doesn't, and annoy me all the time in my workflow are: 1)Finder search refuses to show the path for the files except in the status bar. So you can't sort by path. 2) Finder won't tell you the resolution of images. In general, Explorer has way more columns in the Details view than Finder.

brandon272 12y ago
I'm a former Windows user and now an all Mac user and I find that Finder is sub-par compared to Explorer. Even silly things like wanting to create a new folder and instinctively right clicking to look for a "New Folder" option. Nope, gotta go to the top menu and do it from there!
- genghisjahn 12y ago
  On a OSX, when I two finger click(touchpad) on the Desktop, I get the context menu that shows "New Folder" right at the top.
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
- coliveira 12y ago
  Why don't you just type Command-Shift-N like everyone else? Only beginners use the menu for these common operations.
  - jozzas 12y ago
    It's even Ctrl-Shift-N in Windows. I use that command almost every day.
    - frik 12y ago
      It's a very new shortcut in Windows, afaik since Win8.
      - guardian5x 12y ago
        Just tested, works in Win7 too.
  - brandon272 12y ago
    Thanks for the tip! Learned something new.
jjoonathan 12y ago
Agreed, those things suck. But as someone moving in the other direction (Finder -> Explorer), let me share a few of my Explorer grievances. Hopefully I'm missing a hidden option, but more cynically I expect that I'm in basically the same situation you are: stuck putting up with the persistent mediocrity in big-name graphical file navigators. 0) Good trackpad gestures. 1) Explorer can't sort alphabetically by name. WTH? No matter what I do, the closest I can get is "sort by folder/file status, THEN sort alphabetically by name." This really sucks for the common use cases of navigating the file tree by keyboard or unzipping into a crowded directory. 2) The retarded file open dialogs. I don't mean to say that all file open dialogs in Windows suck (although none of them allow drag-to-jump-to-file which is a minor PITA), I am referring specifically to a subset of file open dialogs which seem to be developmentally impaired by a few decades. They display the entire file hierarchy in a tree view that you have to scroll downwards vs the usual click-to-change-directory + breadcrumbs view. Ctrl+L to jump to a path doesn't work, they don't remember your location between invocations, they don't display common locations (desktop, docs, etc), jump-to-first-letter is broken, and they don't allow easy use of the down arrow to scroll because the next item is invariably hidden beneath the fold. These things are straight from the pits of UX hell, yet for some unknown reason they seem to constitute about ~20% of file selection dialogs on Windows. Ugh. 3) There are no consistent "jump to file" semantics (you know the "Open Enclosing Folder" contextual menu? Like that, but more universal). On OSX, this is the command key. Command click a document's icon in the header to jump to open an enclosing folder. Command click a search result or dock icon to jump to its location in the filesystem. Very handy. Very frustrating to find missing. 4) Hot corners to turn off the screen. Some screen/laptop manufacturers have a physical button, but some don't. Finder provides a built-in workaround. Explorer doesn't. In order to solve this issue I have to navigate the fake-download-button gauntlet and crapware-installer gauntlet twice before writing a line of code to emulate this feature with a keystroke. Yuck! EDIT: added 0
- kalleboo 12y ago
  I haven't used Windows in a while so maybe these are fixed but the two biggest annoyances for me were the lack of spring-loaded folders and the lack of Details view being able to show the size of directories. #1 on your list was also really annoying. I'm also a big fan of disclosure triangles which Windows doesn't do.
batmanthehorse 12y ago
re 2) You can add Resolution or Dimensions to the details view in Finder, but only in ~/Pictures and its subfolders... weird. I don't think Finder's as bad as everyone says, but I do wish there was an address bar available at the top.
- evilduck 12y ago
  Finder is not Windows Explorer verbatim, which seems to be the primary complaint.
greggman 12y ago
Let me add some more. 3) Selecting a bunch of files and having it tell me how big the selection is so I know if they're going to fit on my 4gig USB stick BEFORE I try to copy them 4) Letting me sort thumbnails by newest modified. Finder's version of this seems to be completely broken IMO. It makes endless rows grouped 5) Letting me print photos with all kinds of options without any special software. 1up, 2up, 4up, etc.. (not that I need to print anymore :P) 6) Letting me use pretty much ALL features of windows explorer from any open/save dialog vs OSX where only some features are available.
- redler 12y ago
  Selecting a bunch of files and having it tell me how big the selection is This one does have a solution: Select your multiple items, then use Command-Option-I instead of Command-I. If you're not careful to include Option in this chord, you'll be highly displeased with the results, especially with many items selected. With the File menu open in the Finder, holding Option reveals that this feature is called "Show Inspector". And since it does follow an "inspector" metaphor, it's a persistent window that will remain in place and update its display as you continue changing your selection. Useful.
welly 12y ago
Re: point 2. http://i.imgur.com/LNRaPK7.png http://i.imgur.com/LNRaPK7.png It does. Re: point 1. True but I'm not sure how that would work as in the details view you're showing the files available in a particular directory. How would it sort by path? How does it work in Windows?
- cableshaft 12y ago
  It does show resolutions, but it's terribly inconsistent. A little more than half the time it didn't show the resolutions for me, for files that definitely would have resolutions shown in Windows Explorer.

by guelo 12y ago

brandon272 12y ago

I'm a former Windows user and now an all Mac user and I find that Finder is sub-par compared to Explorer. Even silly things like wanting to create a new folder and instinctively right clicking to look for a "New Folder" option. Nope, gotta go to the top menu and do it from there!

genghisjahn 12y ago
On a OSX, when I two finger click(touchpad) on the Desktop, I get the context menu that shows "New Folder" right at the top.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
coliveira 12y ago
Why don't you just type Command-Shift-N like everyone else? Only beginners use the menu for these common operations.
- jozzas 12y ago
  It's even Ctrl-Shift-N in Windows. I use that command almost every day.
  - frik 12y ago
    It's a very new shortcut in Windows, afaik since Win8.
    - guardian5x 12y ago
      Just tested, works in Win7 too.
- brandon272 12y ago
  Thanks for the tip! Learned something new.

jjoonathan 12y ago

Agreed, those things suck. But as someone moving in the other direction (Finder -> Explorer), let me share a few of my Explorer grievances. Hopefully I'm missing a hidden option, but more cynically I expect that I'm in basically the same situation you are: stuck putting up with the persistent mediocrity in big-name graphical file navigators. 0) Good trackpad gestures. 1) Explorer can't sort alphabetically by name. WTH? No matter what I do, the closest I can get is "sort by folder/file status, THEN sort alphabetically by name." This really sucks for the common use cases of navigating the file tree by keyboard or unzipping into a crowded directory. 2) The retarded file open dialogs. I don't mean to say that all file open dialogs in Windows suck (although none of them allow drag-to-jump-to-file which is a minor PITA), I am referring specifically to a subset of file open dialogs which seem to be developmentally impaired by a few decades. They display the entire file hierarchy in a tree view that you have to scroll downwards vs the usual click-to-change-directory + breadcrumbs view. Ctrl+L to jump to a path doesn't work, they don't remember your location between invocations, they don't display common locations (desktop, docs, etc), jump-to-first-letter is broken, and they don't allow easy use of the down arrow to scroll because the next item is invariably hidden beneath the fold. These things are straight from the pits of UX hell, yet for some unknown reason they seem to constitute about ~20% of file selection dialogs on Windows. Ugh. 3) There are no consistent "jump to file" semantics (you know the "Open Enclosing Folder" contextual menu? Like that, but more universal). On OSX, this is the command key. Command click a document's icon in the header to jump to open an enclosing folder. Command click a search result or dock icon to jump to its location in the filesystem. Very handy. Very frustrating to find missing. 4) Hot corners to turn off the screen. Some screen/laptop manufacturers have a physical button, but some don't. Finder provides a built-in workaround. Explorer doesn't. In order to solve this issue I have to navigate the fake-download-button gauntlet and crapware-installer gauntlet twice before writing a line of code to emulate this feature with a keystroke. Yuck! EDIT: added 0

kalleboo 12y ago
I haven't used Windows in a while so maybe these are fixed but the two biggest annoyances for me were the lack of spring-loaded folders and the lack of Details view being able to show the size of directories. #1 on your list was also really annoying. I'm also a big fan of disclosure triangles which Windows doesn't do.

batmanthehorse 12y ago

re 2) You can add Resolution or Dimensions to the details view in Finder, but only in ~/Pictures and its subfolders... weird. I don't think Finder's as bad as everyone says, but I do wish there was an address bar available at the top.

evilduck 12y ago
Finder is not Windows Explorer verbatim, which seems to be the primary complaint.

greggman 12y ago

Let me add some more. 3) Selecting a bunch of files and having it tell me how big the selection is so I know if they're going to fit on my 4gig USB stick BEFORE I try to copy them 4) Letting me sort thumbnails by newest modified. Finder's version of this seems to be completely broken IMO. It makes endless rows grouped 5) Letting me print photos with all kinds of options without any special software. 1up, 2up, 4up, etc.. (not that I need to print anymore :P) 6) Letting me use pretty much ALL features of windows explorer from any open/save dialog vs OSX where only some features are available.

redler 12y ago
Selecting a bunch of files and having it tell me how big the selection is This one does have a solution: Select your multiple items, then use Command-Option-I instead of Command-I. If you're not careful to include Option in this chord, you'll be highly displeased with the results, especially with many items selected. With the File menu open in the Finder, holding Option reveals that this feature is called "Show Inspector". And since it does follow an "inspector" metaphor, it's a persistent window that will remain in place and update its display as you continue changing your selection. Useful.

welly 12y ago

Re: point 2. http://i.imgur.com/LNRaPK7.png http://i.imgur.com/LNRaPK7.png It does. Re: point 1. True but I'm not sure how that would work as in the details view you're showing the files available in a particular directory. How would it sort by path? How does it work in Windows?

cableshaft 12y ago
It does show resolutions, but it's terribly inconsistent. A little more than half the time it didn't show the resolutions for me, for files that definitely would have resolutions shown in Windows Explorer.