blog: who is the most popular file manager?

[nikos]

here's the comment area for today's blog found at
http://zabkat.com/blog/6Feb11-best-file-manager.htm
a fine day for xplorer2

[narayan]

[hondoe50]

I am delighted that xplorer2 is #1 in the United States. As it should be.

Xplorer2 is unbelievably powerful and flexible and is one of the best programs that I own.

Congratulations!

[Tuxman]

I mainly use FAR and x². On my hard disk also reside XYplorer, Nomad.NET and the (German only) Expicula file manager which actually rocks but can't beat x²... I like it when I have the choice.

[mmelo]

This is really good. I must admit that every once and a while I google about to look for alternatives on the tools I use, namely to see if there are any new archivers and file managers.

I do keep an eye on XYplorer and Ultra Explorer, as they have a couple of features that I would gladly welcome in xplorer2. I also used to be a big FreeCommander fan, but I found it more and more "heavy" for daily usage.

As much as I try, I find I always come back to x2 pro!  :D

[fastlane]

Most popular file manager based on amount of traffic to the website? I don't think so..   That's not truely accurate is it.

[nikos]

statistics is an inexact science but this metric is as representative as it gets and it is not something I manufactured is it?

[WimdeLange]

I downloaded sometime ago a thing called Q-Dir. It has the possibility to show 4 panes with each multiple tabs. I was compelled to use that one, but I did not like some quirks.
But I must admit it was very fast (faster then xplorer2) on reading folders. But in the end I decided not to use it anymore. 4 panes? Simple, open xplorer2 twice.

[nikos]

this Qdir is also in the top-15 list. When you say it was faster, could it be that you made xplorer2 life harder by calculating sort modes, color codings and slow columns so the comparison is not fair?

[WimdeLange]

this Qdir is also in the top-15 list. When you say it was faster, could it be that you made xplorer2 life harder by calculating sort modes, color codings and slow columns so the comparison is not fair?

Ah? I missed that it was in the list also. I've used Qdir only recently.
The fact that xplorer2 is slower could indeed be the case that I use coloring an sorting. And I'm not removing them. A little bit slower with good presentation is preferred. Maybe when I have some idle time, I try to remove some of the coloring.
It is very obvious when you are dealing with thousands of files in a directory on the network (not sure if network is an issue).

[WimdeLange]

Just came to my mind. We have Ctrl-Alt-R to disable the automatic updates which is very handy with large directories on the network.

Could we also have a shortcut key to easily disable and enable formatting? And please don't say that it already exists (if so please do). Every time I asked something the last few months, someone responded that it is already there...

One post to go for gold...... But it must be meaningful

[Kilmatead]

Could we also have a shortcut key to easily disable and enable formatting?

Depends what you're thinking of "formatting" is... if you're only thinking of a button to toggle Colour Coding, this could be done with a small VBS to toggle the menu checkbox: (for English)

set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
WshShell.SendKeys "%(una){ENTER}"

(or use %(pca) for Dutch) ...though personally it would be better done with AHK or AutoIt to store/restore the mouse position before calling it as a user command, which is simple enough.  Or just setup a special layout with any formatting controls disabled...

One post to go for gold...... But it must be meaningful

Quick Fred, change it to 351!

And just for topical interest (using Q-Dir, et al), on February 16, 1568, the entire population of the Netherlands (three million souls) was condemned to death as heretics by Philip II under the Inquisition.  Just thought you might like to celebrate that (2 days late).  I know I do.  Though as to whether this was related to their widespread usage of Q-Dir at the time is curiously left out of the historical record.

[WimdeLange]

Killmate, killmate. You made me post, while it is questionable if this is meaningful......

With "formatting" I indeed mean Colour Coding. And the AHK is indeed a good idea. Why the mouse restore is needed while it only uses keystrokes is  a riddle to me

Fred, you are too late (I hope) (edit: and it is gold!)

February 16, 1568. That is Julian calender, so the Gregorian calender that is on 25th  :roll:. So I have still some day..... In Europe 5 October 1582  changed to 14 October 1582.
How do you find those facts? And what is the connection (if there is any?) to Q-Dir?

[Kilmatead]

What, doesn't everyone sit around the fire on dark winter evenings reading books about the Inquisition?  I thought everybody did this.  

The double-irony here, in case you didn't notice, is that 1568 and the Dutch Revolt are referred to as your Golden Age (I learned everything I ever needed to know about light from Vermeer), so (as usual) I'm easily amused.  And the idea of squishing a few million heretics is just icing on the cake.  (You don't see the [joking] connection between heresy and having affairs with other file-managers?  Your marriage must be quite a liberal one. )

The mouse-store/restore after sending the keystrokes is because they open the Colour Coding window which automatically relocates the mouse-pointer on the "Ok" button - so when the window is automatically closed, the mouse is left sitting in a different location than when you clicked the toolbar button.  If you use toolbar buttons, one generally expects the mouse to still be hovering over it when you're done clicking, rather than zipping elsewhere, no?  A personal preference.

In AHK it's a simple matter of

MouseGetPos, X, Y
Send(...)
MouseMove, X, Y, 0

and in AutoIt:

$xy = MouseGetPos()
Send(...)
MouseMove($xy[0], $xy[1], 0)

...just to keep both sides of that heretical fence happy.

(Incidentally, it has been pointed out that by the standards of metallurgy, our male-anatomical "Member" status gets progressively softer the more you ascend by posting - so having an open marriage is just as well, now that you're softer-than-silver Gold.  And don't ask about Platinum.  You may thank user narayan for that little tidbit of observational lunacy.)

[WimdeLange]

No comment....

But thanks for the tips and the references.   And now I see the connection. Sometimes the obvious should be pointed out. And the mouse following buttons? Tried that, hate it. Not mine preference.

Hardness of materials
Copper: 2.5 - 3
Silver: 2.5 - 4
Gold: 2.5 - 3
Platinum: 4.3

Diamond(is that here available??) 10.

So no softness when you post more. So that "myth is busted".

Reference: http://www.prater-sterling.com/hardness_table.pdf