TotalFinder (for Mac)

Essentially a plug-in for the Finder in Mac OS, TotalFinder ($18), compatible with OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard and 10.7 Lion, adds new ways to see information in the Finder space of your Apple computer. The most visible feature, tabs, adds greater usability and visibility to Finder. Rather than have multiple Finder windows open, you can easily work from one. The application introduces a few other features to enhance the Finder, some very visible and some less so. At $18, TotalFinder seems a bit pricey for a fairly niche plug-in, and the value you can get out of it largely depends on whether you?re a command-line user who will tap into its advanced features.

Basic Features
TotalFinder has four basic features: tabs, dual mode, folders on top, and show system files.

My favorite of the basic features, tabs, is so ridiculously simple I can't believe it isn't already a feature in Apple OS X (and I wonder if it's something we might see as a late addition to Apple OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion). As you'd imagine from the name, the tab feature lets you add tabs to one Finder window rather than opening new ones. TotalFinder enables one window, but multiple spaces for things like the Applications list, Documents, Pictures, Downloads, your Mac home space, or any other directory that you typically want open. Having tabs rather than separate windows makes them all easier to see.

TotalFinder's dual mode takes the tab concept a little further, giving you side-by-side views of two spaces simultaneously. It's like having two tabs open in one space. Dual mode's biggest asset is it enables easier dragging and dropping of files and folders. It's also useful if you typically have more than one Finder window open at once, like if you typically have open one local folder and a second shared folder on a server.

Another basic feature, called "Folders on top," very nearly duplicates the Finder's existing ability to sort by kind. If you sort by kind in Finder, all the folders that are in view will be grouped together, although they won't necessarily appear at the top of the screen. TotalFinder puts them there. The idea is some users want their folders to be foremost visible, while files should fall below. If you like having folders on top, you'll certainly like that TotalFinder still lets you use the "sort by" feature built into Finder and Apple OS X, but keeps folders on top after the sort is complete. In other words, you can sort by file size, and the folders will still take the top slots regardless of their size.

The last of the basic features, show system files, may be more for advanced users than average consumers. Apple OS X hides system files from the end user. Many people don't need or want to know that these files even exist. Those who do know about them and want to get at them can use TotalFinder to toggle to display them without having to restart Finder. If you panic at the thought of accidentally deleting some necessary program file, this is not a feature for you.

Advanced Features
TotalFinder has three additional advanced features: visor, asepsis, and tweaks. If you stopped paying attention to this article halfway through the previous paragraph, I can assure you that these three features will be of little interest. You can skip to the end of the review and decide whether the first three basic features that redesign the Finder display are worth $18.

Visor isn't a really a highly advanced feature, but only advanced users will find the utility in it. TotalFinder's visor makes a Finder space pop up quickly and take up about half the screen when you press a hotkey. It works system wide, and it looks best when you hide Mac's dock (or move it to the side or top instead of the bottom of the screen). The point of visor is to change your workflow, which is why only so-called advanced users will care much about it. Most people know how they work, and it doesn't take much to click on the desktop and press cmd+N to pop open a new Finder window.

Unlike visor, asepsis really is more advanced. It redirects the creation of .DS_Store files, which are tiny files that are created every time you view a folder for which you've changed some of the display options. Most users don't worry about these files. But command-line users can see them and the files can get in the way. So asepsis just throws those files into another location and isolates them from view.

Tweaks, while billed as a feature, doesn't do anything in itself but rather is the section name where you can adjust other TotalFinder settings, such as keyboard shortcuts for TotalFinder and other options.

Value
TotalFinder redisplays the Finder space in Mac in highly useful, albeit fairly minor, ways. Tabs and dual mode make the Finder a neater and tighter space in which to work. The additional features offered in the plug-in likely won't entice average users to pay for it, but more advanced Mac geeks who care about hidden files and where their .DS_Store files are kept may find those features increase TotalFinder's value enough to warrant the $18 price.

More Software Utilities Reviews:
??? Hide Folder Ext
??? TotalFinder (for Mac)
??? Microsoft Windows Live Mesh
??? SocialFolders
??? Comodo Programs Manager
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/oZBlxHNCxEk/0,2817,2400622,00.asp

ponder extract extract bobby jindal bobby jindal talladega pumpkin carving