A while back when we mentioned a preview of ForkLift, a new 2-pane file manager for the Mac, the comments suggested that I may have somewhat under-appreciated what it offered. Well ForkLift has now shipped and appears to include quite a few nice features. Among these are a full-fledged (S)FTP client, tabs, spring loaded folders, Amazon S3 support, an Application Deleter (a la AppZapper), the ability to browse archives as if they were folders, and quite a bit more. For those moving over from using an orthodox file manager on the PC, or for anyone who finds the Finder rather limiting, ForkLift is worth a look. (Incidentally, if you're interested in the new Mac indie development company behind ForkLift, BinaryNights, MacApper had an interesting interview a while back.)ForkLift is $30 and a demo is available.
[via MacNN]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-02-2007 @ 8:46PM
MajorMauser said...
Forklift is nice and all but it does not update and show folder sizes. Not to have this feature is a show stopper for me.
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6-02-2007 @ 8:49PM
jason said...
Why do so many of the featured apps have such a horribly non-standard image galleries?
Is this some pact to make it cumbersome to view screenshots, or to figure out what you're looking at?
Jason
http://www.gravityswitch.com
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6-02-2007 @ 9:08PM
nicolas said...
two free alternatives:
mu commander - http://www.mucommander.com/
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6-02-2007 @ 9:09PM
nicolas said...
sorry, i hit enter...
and xfolders - http://www.kai-heitkamp.com/cms_en/main.php?content=9&module=0&SprachID=1
both are othodox file managers and free!!
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6-02-2007 @ 9:33PM
Dave Chartier said...
I can has Leopard's new Finder soon?
I've been peeking at Path Finder and ForkLife-like utilities more and more lately, but I'm waiting for what most of us hope to be a very, *very* revamped Finder in Leopard.
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6-02-2007 @ 9:46PM
Tim Dorr said...
@jason
Well, it's exactly like Transmit's screenshot viewer...
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6-02-2007 @ 10:32PM
rodney said...
another free alternative is fugu: http://rsug.itd.umich.edu/software/fugu/
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6-02-2007 @ 11:06PM
JeffDM said...
I happen to use CyberDuck.
http://cyberduck.ch/
I used to use Fugu, but I think it caused me trouble from time to time, but I forget.
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6-03-2007 @ 2:16AM
Quine said...
I gotta say, I tried both and I prefer path finder. You can set up a dual pane view in that pretty easily (just open a second browser and position it, PF remembers the locations so it's not a hassle).
As far as I can see, forklift has no column view, which makes it embarassingly inefficient, whereas PF retains column view, and lets you have a dual pane column view. That right there is the reason I recommend people check out Path Finder before Forklift if you want a good finder replacement (or as I use it, partner, as I use pf and finder side by side for different tasks).
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6-03-2007 @ 3:28AM
Johan Cloetens said...
You also might have a look at http://www.inuron.com/index.php, not your regular (s)ftp, but supports remote access, metadata, ...
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6-03-2007 @ 4:12AM
Jacques Lema said...
I have been using it for some time now and can't live without it anymore. I have been missing something like this since I stopped using TotalCommander on Windows. It still misses some of the feature that TC had but it's really more powerful than it seems. It's fast and well-designed (and not as ugly as TC out of the box).
For once it is one of the rare file managers where you can hit enter on a ZIP file and just pick one the files. Works with jar files too (useful when developing in java).
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6-03-2007 @ 8:44AM
artifex said...
Which of these filemgrs, if any, allow you to move files between directories on different drives, without having to hold down a key? That's something that's never made sense to me, as a switcher.
Also, do any of these have support for doing a file comparison if you're trying to move a file into a directory that already has a file with the same name? The program I use as a filemgr on my pc lets me select whether to auto-overwrite if the data is identical, and pops up a comparison window if they're different, showing file sizes and dates, and if they're graphics, large thumbnails, so I can see if one is corrupted, etc.
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6-03-2007 @ 9:28AM
artifex said...
I just remembered something else I miss: being able to select groups of files and have the bottom bar tell me not just how many files or folders I select, but also how big they are. I shouldn't have to open the infopane to get that.
And, this is more of an ftff thing, but don't tell me I have no items in a folder, if there are subfolders! Ok, I'd better not get started on ftff :)
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6-03-2007 @ 2:58PM
Techslacker said...
Nobody has any idea what a good file manager is until they use Directory Opus which unfortunately runs under Windows. The developers come from the old Amiga platform and know their stuff. I'd love to see Mac folks contact them and request a Mac version.
http://www.gpsoft.com.au/
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6-11-2007 @ 3:41AM
Floryn said...
I like Forklift is nice..
Floryn @ http://www.myArcadeClub.com
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8-28-2007 @ 1:38PM
sande said...
"Nobody has any idea what a good file manager is until they use Directory Opus...I'd love to see Mac folks contact them and request a Mac version."
I agree, Dopus is the best there is. I actually contacted GPSoftware some time ago and Dr Greg Perry answered. He said that they have thought about it, but they don't have any experience about Macs and that they currently don't have resources to develop for Mac.
I guess it wouldn't hurt to mail them if you are interested, though... :)
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