File Management Recommendations

[butterwm]

We are a mostly Mac family with the exception of our 18 year old son. He has a Windows based gaming computer. He has used this computer to do all his school work through high school. He will be off to college this summer and feel he is going to want and need a laptop for school. We started looking at the new M4 MacBook Pro’s and I know the new M4 MacBook Air’s are supposed to come out in Q1 next year. Everything I read review wise says unless you need a gaming laptop that Apple has the laptop market cornered and nothing can touch them as far as performance and reliability.

During shopping he told us now that he doesn’t want a Mac laptop and instead wants a Windows Laptop. This has nothing to do with gaming as he will have a desktop gaming computer in his room. He says he can’t stand the file structure on Mac OS and it’s so much easier using Windows and that is what he is used to. Files are saved all over the place and it’s hard to figure out where things are saved at. My wife also says this is a complaint of hers too with the Mac OS.

Has anyone else experienced this? Is there anything I can do settings wise to make the files process on a Mac more seamless and Windows like? The bad reviews on all the Windows laptops are really turning me off and I’m desperate to maybe give him a different option in the Mac OS that might make him rethink an Apple laptop.

 

[Mike Boreham]

IMO it’s all a matter of what you are used to. Even people who want to switch (either direction) struggle with unfamiliarity at first. Since your son doesn’t even want to switch you are not likely to find a magic fix that will turn him.

That said, most Windows switchers struggle with Finder at first, so a highly customisable Finder replacement like Path Finder or QSpace Pro might be worth looking at.

 

[rm5]

Huh, interesting. I use both Windows and macOS, and I think they both have their issues. As far as reliability goes, I think Windows machines have gotten pretty damn reliable lately. Give me all the hate you want, but I believe the whole reliability stuff is an outdated thing of the past. My Lenovo Legion laptop (a Windows laptop), which I am typing this on right now, has had zero issues.

Now, regarding file management, again, both macOS and Windows have their own annoyances when it comes to that. Though I can't say I've experienced the difficulties you describe. The macOS Finder is absolutely horrible, but other options such as Commander One can serve as replacements. Windows Explorer is a bit better and shows more properties of the files by default, you can see file transfer speeds, etc.

So it's really up to your son's personal preference. Ultimately, I'd just suggest making sure he's able to return whatever device he gets if he changes his mind.

 

[butterwm]

Huh, interesting. I use both Windows and macOS, and I think they both have their issues. As far as reliability goes, I think Windows machines have gotten pretty damn reliable lately. Give me all the hate you want, but I believe the whole reliability stuff is an outdated thing of the past. My Lenovo Legion laptop (a Windows laptop), which I am typing this on right now, has had zero issues.

Now, regarding file management, again, both macOS and Windows have their own annoyances when it comes to that. Though I can't say I've experienced the difficulties you describe. The macOS Finder is absolutely horrible, but other options such as Commander One can serve as replacements. Windows Explorer is a bit better and shows more properties of the files by default, you can see file transfer speeds, etc.

So it's really up to your son's personal preference. Ultimately, I'd just suggest making sure he's able to return whatever device he gets if he changes his mind.

Thanks for the reply! When we went and looked at Windows laptops the guy in BestBuy was really steering us towards the Lenovo brand and saying it was the best. He liked the Yoga model. When I was doing research and reading reviews lots of people talking about battery issues, battery swelling, ect. Some were saying they have had to have the battery replaced once a year. Things like that scare me a bit.

I haven’t tried any Finder replacements and I know you mentioned Commander One. With that installed just that replace the Finder? Are you able to set a default location to store all the files versus how the Mac OS does it now?

 

[rm5]

Thanks for the reply! When we went and looked at Windows laptops the guy in BestBuy was really steering us towards the Lenovo brand and saying it was the best. He liked the Yoga model. When I was doing research and reading reviews lots of people talking about battery issues, battery swelling, ect. Some were saying they have had to have the battery replaced once a year. Things like that scare me a bit.

I haven’t tried any Finder replacements and I know you mentioned Commander One. With that installed just that replace the Finder? Are you able to set a default location to store all the files versus how the Mac OS does it now?

Of course! Incidentally, my brother has a Lenovo Yoga laptop, the one from last year. From what I know, he has had no issues with battery swelling, etc. Of course the battery issues could be confined to a very specific model and generation. But don't quote me on that, because I don't know for sure. Like I said, my Lenovo Legion laptop (model 16APH8 - there's a newer one, the 16AHP9, that came out recently - mine is previous-gen) has had no issues. I love it!

What do you mean by setting a default location? Not tracking there.

 

[Mike Boreham]

I haven’t tried any Finder replacements and I know you mentioned Commander One. With that installed just that replace the Finder? Are you able to set a default location to store all the files versus how the Mac OS does it now?

Using Finder replacements is not problem free. Personal preferences come into but in my experience they all have their drawbacks and I have always ended up (sometimes after several months) coming back to Finder.

There is a Best Finder Alternatives you may find useful. But I repeat I don't think you will convert an 18 yr old who doesn't want a Mac....you should have started on him a lot younger

 

[butterwm]

Of course! Incidentally, my brother has a Lenovo Yoga laptop, the one from last year. From what I know, he has had no issues with battery swelling, etc. Of course the battery issues could be confined to a very specific model and generation. But don't quote me on that, because I don't know for sure. Like I said, my Lenovo Legion laptop (model 16APH8 - there's a newer one, the 16AHP9, that came out recently - mine is previous-gen) has had no issues. I love it!

What do you mean by setting a default location? Not tracking there.

If I am in my profile and save a document it is saved under my profile buried in the folders. If he is in his profile he doesn’t have access to those in his saved folders and has to go searching through other user profiles. Many times he does a search for the document name because it isn’t in his profile.

We just a new iMac and I got the 2 TB HD. I portioned the drive in half. Ideally I would like everything we do document wise to save to that other drive for backup reasons. However in Finder and the Mac OS apps it wants to only save under your profile in those folders which in my case is on the wrong drive.

 

[Mike Boreham]

We just a new iMac and I got the 2 TB HD. I portioned the drive in half. Ideally I would like everything we do document wise to save to that other drive for backup reasons. However in Finder and the Mac OS apps it wants to only save under your profile in those folders which in my case is on the wrong drive.

Modern macOSes already puts the System and Data on separate volumes, and backup strategies are based on backing up and restoring the Data volume. You are unnecessarily swimming against the current to try and impose your own structure.

 

[rm5]

If I am in my profile and save a document it is saved under my profile buried in the folders. If he is in his profile he doesn’t have access to those in his saved folders and has to go searching through other user profiles. Many times he does a search for the document name because it isn’t in his profile.

We just a new iMac and I got the 2 TB HD. I portioned the drive in half. Ideally I would like everything we do document wise to save to that other drive for backup reasons. However in Finder and the Mac OS apps it wants to only save under your profile in those folders which in my case is on the wrong drive.

External storage is your friend here! Probably would solve all these issues. Partitioning your internal drive I'm afraid is not going to solve anything, it's just going to create more issues.

 

[Alameda]

We are a mostly Mac family with the exception of our 18 year old son. He has a Windows based gaming computer. He has used this computer to do all his school work through high school. He will be off to college this summer and feel he is going to want and need a laptop for school. We started looking at the new M4 MacBook Pro’s and I know the new M4 MacBook Air’s are supposed to come out in Q1 next year. Everything I read review wise says unless you need a gaming laptop that Apple has the laptop market cornered and nothing can touch them as far as performance and reliability.

During shopping he told us now that he doesn’t want a Mac laptop and instead wants a Windows Laptop. This has nothing to do with gaming as he will have a desktop gaming computer in his room. He says he can’t stand the file structure on Mac OS and it’s so much easier using Windows and that is what he is used to. Files are saved all over the place and it’s hard to figure out where things are saved at. My wife also says this is a complaint of hers too with the Mac OS.

Has anyone else experienced this? Is there anything I can do settings wise to make the files process on a Mac more seamless and Windows like? The bad reviews on all the Windows laptops are really turning me off and I’m desperate to maybe give him a different option in the Mac OS that might make him rethink an Apple laptop.

Asus and Dell make good notebooks. I think if your son doesn’t want to use Mac, there’s no point in making him.

I don’t have any difficulty with Mac file management at all. There’s a Desktop Folder and a Documents folder, and you create folders inside of them and save your documents there. That’s basically it. The other file locations don’t matter because there’s no need to use them. Yes, there are System Files and Temp files, but they take care of themselves. I use the Mac file system to manage tens of thousands of photos I’ve shot over the years.

I have a background in Unix, so if I want to dive into the file system, I can just open a terminal window and use Unix commands to do anything I want, but, as I said, there’s no reason to.

 

[Mike Boreham]

I haven’t tried any Finder replacements and I know you mentioned Commander One. With that installed just that replace the Finder? Are you able to set a default location to store all the files versus how the Mac OS does it now?

Just been re-reading my reply to the above and realise I don't really understand your issue. Whenever I save a file I am asked where I want to save it and I choose (same as in Windows). You imply macOS automatically chooses locations for you which are scattered all over the place. I don’t experience this.

There is an excellent and very popular app called Default Folder X which makes it very easy to select your favourite locations when saving a file.

 

[Fishrrman]

If the kid wants to use Windows, well... LET HIM use Windows.

As far as compatibility with "the rest of the family goes", stop worrying about it.
HE will figure out what to do.

I've read that for some college paths, the primary software for certain disciplines is based on the Windows system.

Again, if that's what he wants or needs to use... just let it go at that.