There are a ton of additional features that I just don’t have room to cover here without turning this Gem into a novella. And a drop stack at the top of the window’s sidebar lets you drag-and-drop items for later access your items remain in the drop stack until you’re ready to act on them (for example, drag them into a new folder, burn them to a disc, or compress and e-mail them). Drag-and-drop any folder onto this bar and Path Finder will turn it into a navigable drop-down menu-a click on any folder here lets you navigate however far into that directory you wish, or you can choose the Open in Tab command to open that folder in its own tab. Path Finder also provides a quick-access area, just below the window’s toolbar, that looks much like Safari’s Bookmarks Bar. As you type, a list of matching folders is shown in the area below the input box you can navigate these folders, and their contents, using the keyboard. If you use the Finder’s Go: Go to Folder (shift-command-G) feature often, you’ll find even here Path Finder’s version is better. You can even customize text, background colors, and background images in column view. Shown at right is a comparison of the view options for Path Finder (left) and the Finder (right) Path Finder offers a plethora of choices, including many sort options, while the Finder’s list is much more limited. One of the things I really appreciate in Path Finder is the added control over view options-especially for column view mode, as that’s the one I use most often. You can even create multiple sidebars, each with customized sections, and then switch between them as you wish. The sidebar can be turned off while leaving the toolbar visible, and you can choose which sections of the side you’d like to see, as well as the sidebar’s font face and size. You can set your own colors (and names) for Finder labels. You can use Cover Flow mode while in list, icon, or column view modes. First off, all of the Finder limitations I listed above are handled by Path Finder. Even if you never go beyond this standard window, you gain quite a few features over the Finder. You’ll see a window with a toolbar at the top, a sidebar on the left, and a file browsing area on the right. One of the first things you’ll notice about Path Finder is that its windows look much like the Finder’s. From my seat, though, version 5 is a must-have program. Learning all those settings and features takes time, and some may not find it worth the effort. It’s a complex program, with a slew of settings to investigate and powerful features to put to use. And with version 5, Path Finder (originally known as SNAX) is finally complete enough to replace the Finder for most tasks-I’ve been using it as such since its release.īecause it offers so many features, Path Finder isn’t targeted at new Mac users or those who feel the Finder is more than powerful enough for their needs. If there are features about which you’ve thought “Gee, it’d be great if the Finder did this,” the odds are that Path Finder can already do it. The good news is that there’s a program out there, CocoaTech’s Path Finder 5, that does pretty much everything the Finder does, but solves all of the problems I just presented and offers many additional features. The bad news is that, given how long these issues have been with us, I’m not sure Apple plans on doing anything about them. Finally, I pointed out that Spotlight in the Finder is borderline useless for certain searches, as you can’t show more than the three provided columns in search results. My article on Leopard annoyances, you can’t assign custom colors to the Finder’s Labels feature you can’t set the font size or face, or disable sections, of Finder-window sidebars and the sidebar and toolbar are linked together-you can’t hide one without losing the other. For example, while the Cover Flow mode is interesting, it’d be more useful to me if the bottom section of a Cover Flow window could be switched to icon or column view. If you find yourself frustrated by some of the Finder’s limitations, you’re not alone.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |