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File management and other Finder woes

C

CatharticFlux

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 20, 2004
64
0
Marietta, GA
So I took the dip last xmas and got a Mac Pro and a Macbook for my wife. Life was great, I ended up not even installing bootcamp and leaving my PC to collect dust.

Alas, I just don't 'get' Finder. Align to grid seems to work OK half the time, but it will randomly start aligning to a different grid than the one used for the existing icons. Clean up will start piling icons on top of each other and I hate to say that I miss how XP used to treat picture folders (the filmstrip view.) I also wish there was an easier way to tell where I am (parent folders) other than changing views to the hierarchical one.

What am I missing? Is there a guide for using Finder for someone that sadly spent too much time in the Windows world? :)
 
CatharticFlux said:
I also wish there was an easier way to tell where I am (parent folders) other than changing views to the hierarchical one.
Click to expand...
Well, you can hit command and click on the title bar icon to get a "breadcrumbs" drop-down, but I agree it would be really nice to be able to view the path at a glance.
What am I missing?
Click to expand...
Nothing, really. I switched to the Mac late last year and since then have learned that the Finder is one of the community's biggest complaints about the OS. If Leopard's version isn't significantly better, I'm going to invest in Path Finder.
 
I tried PathFinder & thought is was great...I'm just hesitant to fork over money right right now on 3rd party apps--I'd hate to spend hundreds of $$ only to see that for some reason, it isn't compatible w/ Leopard...
 
I'm not in the least worried about Leopard compatibility (hundreds of dollars?). Path Finder is a really popular app, and no doubt CocoaTech will stay on top of ensuring it remains compatible. The only reason I'm waiting is just to see how Leopard's Finder is; if it addresses some of my gripes with it, I might just stick with it.
 
As far as keeping track of where you are (ie: parent folder), have you tried changing Finders view to list or columns? List view in particular is very easy to use and lets you see quite readily where you are in the file structure. Also as for keeping your folders aligned and organized you can set Finder to keep files arranged by Kind (type), Name, Size, etc. Control-click in Finder and select "Show View Options". Hope this helps a little.:D
 
I would try using the columns view. Thats all I find I need. And you can add the "path" button to the toolbar of the finder to show you where you are.

Or best yet, if you know what you are looking for, download Launchbar. makes finding any app or file unbelievably fast and easy.
 
Or instead of LaunchBar, Quicksilver, as it's free and you don't seem to want to spend too much money.

Path Finder is a good utility, but I find it over-complex. I probably need to spend more time using it, but for the moment Finder suits my needs.
 
You can also customise the toolbar (right click, customise) and drag the icon "path" to the toolbar. No matter what you're viewing, the "path" button will show the path to the file/folder you've highlighted.
 
I must admit that I've never understood the complaints with the Finder. My first real computer was a Mac although I've used Windows before I bought my machine. Finder is a simple solution that doesn't think too much of itself. I've used PathFinder and can see its usefulness in some apps but not for the average user. I don't see any need to make it a full app or "bowser" like.

But that's just me.
 
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