Help a newbie - is Finder = File Explorer in Windows?

[HLdan]

The only thing I miss from Windows Explorer is the "Up one level" button, thing. That's all. The "Path" button is ok but it's just not as useful.

One thing I certainly don't miss is the crashing, slowness and general hardness to use. Spotlight FTW, I must say.

I prefer Finder but I miss one or two things from Windows Explorer.

But one thing people forget is that Windows and Macintosh are completely different operating systems, each with different targets and goals. When switching, there are bound to be things you miss or are glad to be rid of. You can't blame Apple for not offering every tiny detail the opposition offered. If it's causing you so much grief, you can always switch back - and assuming you're on a modern Intel Mac, you can just use bootcamp so you haven't wasted money on your hardware. Some people... sheeeeessh.

Agreed! Good post.

 

[theLimit]

The only thing I miss from Windows Explorer is the "Up one level" button, thing. That's all. The "Path" button is ok but it's just not as useful.

You can always just press Command + Up Arrow.

 

[BlakTornado]

You can always just press Command + Up Arrow.

Never knew that. Thanks

 

[soms]

you must be using windows XP.

easier to use than vista, especially after they re-did all the menus

 

[clevin]

easier to use than vista, especially after they re-did all the menus

well, as far as the case was concerned (fav folders in sidebar), vista is better than xp.

Im not interested in doing a whole OS comparison. Its not possible to cover it fairly in 1 or two sentences like that.

 

[mcavjame]

Ohhh and there's something else I liked from Windows. If you open a folder and the computer detects the type of the files in it, it shows info depending on the type. Like this:

If you open a folder with MP3's, explorer can show you info related to the music, like artist, album, bit rate, size, etc.

In Finder, it only shows you the name of the file. You can get some more info, but it doesn't have to do with the music. Instead it gives you Last Modification, Size, etc. Same thing for images and videos and other stuff...

Of course I use iTunes to know all that info, but I like being able to do it in my file explorer. It's useful sometimes.

Here are a couple of screen grabs; one for looking a music files with Finder in column view and one for looking at images with files in icon view. Notice all the info displayed for the song, including duration. The path to the song indicates artist, album and song title.

The images display size and give a pretty clear thumbnail of the contained picture. You can even marquee a bunch of pics and open them with Preview to get a great little slideshow going.

 

[jcgnu]

The stuff is all there, just need to find out how. In my opinion Finder is more usable as Windows Explorer. Plus, as you pointed out, it doesn't crash the entire system when you have to force quit it. Huge plus!


Hope this was helpful.

/Rupert

Yeah, thanks, that was really helpful!! I'm still missing point #1, but there's an alternative solution with list view... But knowing the sum info is very useful to me.

Ohh to BlakTornado. Calm down dude. I'm not saying it's Apple's fault, but they can try keeping up with customer's expectations.

I definetely see more reasons to stick with MacOS than to switch back, but still, I have Windows Vista on bootcamp, you know, for all those things you still can't do on MacOS. (Don't deny it, there are still some. Thank God they're less everyday)

 

[jcgnu]

Here are a couple of screen grabs; one for looking a music files with Finder in column view and one for looking at images with files in icon view. Notice all the info displayed for the song, including duration. The path to the song indicates artist, album and song title.

The images display size and give a pretty clear thumbnail of the contained picture. You can even marquee a bunch of pics and open them with Preview to get a great little slideshow going.

Ok, let me explain a little further. I want to be able to see all that information at once, I mean, for all the files in the folder. Let me say why.

In music, I need to be able to see my music as if it was iTunes, where you have all those columns in List View...

In pictures, what I need to see (easily, not by changing the view and not one file at a time) is the dimensions. I do some web and image design so that information is very important for me, and having to right-click the file or change the view, or get that info per file, are simply things that take me longer than in Windows.

Again, for the rest of the stuff, I couldn't be happier, but it's normal that I miss a few things right? Switching couldn't be all perfect.

 

[mackindergarten]

To go up one level you could use the shortcut for it (command-up arrow). If you want to have an icon, take a look at this (scroll down for the Leopard version).

For picture dimensions: In Finder, go to View options (View > Show View Options) and check Show Item Info. Shows you the dimension under every picture in Icon View.

Concerning the different views: It's not what view you lock in, I use all four of them. Each for it's own purpose. Yes, even Cover Flow (for a visual web history).

/Rupert

 

[ArthurDaley]

Great. Exactly what I needed, the Up button, life is very frustrating without it. Very odd it does not come as standard on the Mac.

I've got a few other "switching to Mac" issues, one of which is about Finder still but I will post here regarding that later. The Mac is great but I really need to iron out a few some quirks such as that Up button thing. Thanks.

 

[bluedoggiant]

While windows explorer should have some more features (like folder size) etc, it is much better than finder on a mac. i'm a heavy keyboard user and can easily jump from one folder to another exteremely easily. not possible on finder. cuz it is very mouse based.

adding two three icons on the top is not much of a customisation. it is about usability and navigation.

haha

...that is sooo possible, just right click in the folder>show view options, and there you have it.

 

[mcavjame]

In music, I need to be able to see my music as if it was iTunes, where you have all those columns in List View...

- Why not just use itunes then? Open up spaces, plunk itunes in there with the list you want and leave it running. Then it's a simple click to switch spaces.

In pictures, what I need to see (easily, not by changing the view and not one file at a time) is the dimensions. I do some web and image design so that information is very important for me, and having to right-click the file or change the view, or get that info per file, are simply things that take me longer than in Windows.

- I think that window shows all the files with their dimensions. You don't have to right click every time. Just indicate to always open that folder in the view you have set. Every time you go back to that folder, the system remembers how to display the info.

Again, for the rest of the stuff, I couldn't be happier, but it's normal that I miss a few things right? Switching couldn't be all perfect.

- Yeah... I'm not one of those guys trying to tell you that the OS is perfect. I'm just trying to help provide some solutions that might be useful. Hope the ideas help.

 

[richard.mac]

… In pictures, what I need to see (easily, not by changing the view and not one file at a time) is the dimensions. I do some web and image design so that information is very important for me, and having to right-click the file or change the view, or get that info per file, are simply things that take me longer than in Windows. …

set the folder to icon view and then in Show View Options tick "show item info"

 

[jcgnu]

For picture dimensions: In Finder, go to View options (View > Show View Options) and check Show Item Info. Shows you the dimension under every picture in Icon View.
/Rupert

Great! That's a great solution!!

It seems like you can do a lot of the things we were used to with Windows, they're just not as handy. That, I'd say, is kind of a flaw, since you need to remember all that stuff. For example, the up-folder button, I think, should be there. Sure cmd+up works, but you have to remember that and other shurtcuts to be able to use all those functions.

Anyway, I've become faster with those shortcuts.

So, thanks for all your help.

 

[mackindergarten]

That, I'd say, is kind of a flaw, since you need to remember all that stuff. For example, the up-folder button, I think, should be there. Sure cmd+up works, but you have to remember that and other shurtcuts to be able to use all those functions.

Anyway, I've become faster with those shortcuts.

So, thanks for all your help.

Remembering these shortcuts can be quite a job in the beginning. As you will find out, shortcuts are widely used in Mac OS X and you can even configure your own shortcuts (which is a killer feature for me; tutorial here).

And, as you already said, shortcuts make you work faster. So once you get over the hump of learning them, it will be an improvement.


/Rupert

 

[Quillz]

Want keyboard navigation in finder, heres what you do

step 1: PRess the keys, Command + 3
step 2: Use your arrow keys to nagvigate through all your folders

omg your so right... things like navigating with your keyboard in finder are so complex.


I honestly dont see why people diss finder so much, I think finder is great, it has SOO many hidden features and tricks. It's fast (especially in leopard) it works well for the most part. Quick look in leopard is AMAZING, when i first heard of the featue I thought "thats dumb, i never forget what file is what" but now that I have it, I use it all the time, ismply cause it's faster then opening preview, or text edit.

If Finder is as great as you claim, then I don't see why it needs to have all of its options hidden. Also, Path Finder and ForkLift are far better, and much closer to Windows Explorer.

 

[LouisBlack]

If Finder is as great as you claim, then I don't see why it needs to have all of its options hidden. Also, Path Finder and ForkLift are far better, and much closer to Windows Explorer.

A lot of people don't want Finder to be like Windows Explorer. I switched to get away from the Windows experience.

For every situation that has been mentioned in this thread, someone has given a way to do it in Finder.

 

[alfaphlex]

Great. Exactly what I needed, the Up button, life is very frustrating without it. Very odd it does not come as standard on the Mac.

Alternatively, you can use the Path button in the Finder toolbar. It's not there by default. Just right click on the toolbar > customize toolbar and drag the Path button up.

The reason I like it more than just an up button is because no matter where you are, you can view all the parent folders all the way up to the root folder and skip to any of them in just one click.

 

[rhett7660]

If you remember, short cuts were hard to learn on windows also. Just because you are used to something doesn't mean you didn't have to learn that way. Remember if you are coming from a window's background, you have probably been using windows for a long period of time and probably using it through varies incarnations.

Just remember you are now learning a new OS. Hell I can remember the growning pains alot of us went through when we went from dos>>win 3.11 or 3.1>>win 95>>win 98>>win xp>>vista.

Hell I know alot of my friends who hated the way vista worked but now love it, becuase they have been using for some time and have become acustom to the way it works.

I am a recent switcher myself. Switched in January. I agree with what a lot of you have said. There is stuff I am trying to wrap my head around. Why does it do this, why does it do that. Why can't it do that, wait it can but I have to go dig for it, or I have to know what buttons to push. It is just a different way of doing things.

Yes there are growing pains, especially if you work on a win box at work and then come home to your Mac box.

 

[Sorkvild]

Alternatively, you can use the Path button in the Finder toolbar. It's not there by default. Just right click on the toolbar > customize toolbar and drag the Path button up.

The reason I like it more than just an up button is because no matter where you are, you can view all the parent folders all the way up to the root folder and skip to any of them in just one click.

Putting the Path button in was the first thing I'd do on reinstalls and new macs until I figured out right clicking the window's title bar does the same thing! Thought I would throw out that there since so far no one seems to have mentioned it.

 

[alfaphlex]

Putting the Path button in was the first thing I'd do on reinstalls and new macs until I figured out right clicking the window's title bar does the same thing! Thought I would throw out that there since so far no one seems to have mentioned it.

holy crap, didn't know about the right click on title bar! wow, 10yrs using macs and lil' things like this still catch me by suprise. lol, I put in my 2 cents and I got back 4. Thanks!

 

[jcgnu]

And, as you already said, shortcuts make you work faster. So once you get over the hump of learning them, it will be an improvement.
/Rupert

Well, I know I'll finally learn them and become really fast with them. But what about people like my mom, or my dad... It's not that easy for them. They can barely handle simple tasks on the computer.

So, it's great those features aren't actually missing, but they shouldn't be hidden. I mean, there's plenty of space on the screen. LOL

 

[mackindergarten]

Well, I know I'll finally learn them and become really fast with them. But what about people like my mom, or my dad... It's not that easy for them. They can barely handle simple tasks on the computer.

Yes, I agree. It's the same for my parents. I always make them go through the menu. There they have text description (plus the shortcut) of the action. It seems much easier than a list of shortcuts, which are very abstract to them.

Only my 2 cents.
/Rupert