Filed under: Software, Productivity, Leopard
Default Folder X 4.0 refined for Leopard
St. Clair Software has just released version 4.0 of its well-known Default Folder X for both Leopard and Tiger. This utility enhances OS X's Open and Save dialogs in a number of ways, allowing easy access to favorites and Spotlight comments, defining a per-application default folder, integrating with open Finder windows and more. The new version revamps the interface with a more HUD-like Leopard look and offers support for Quick Look as you can see above. Last week Macworld posted a preview video that does a good job of explaining just what makes Default Folder X so handy.
Default Folder X is $34.95 and a demo is available. The upgrade is free to registered users of version 3 who purchased after June 1, 2007. The upgrade cost for other OS X registered users is $14.95 (and $19.95 for OS 9 registered users).
[via Macminute]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Galley said 10:52AM on 12-13-2007
I'm sure this is an excellent (and time-saving) app, but $35???
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Johnny said 10:57AM on 12-13-2007
Default Folder is ok, but a little half-baked. Mostly, I can't stand the way it blacks out the screen. I would have much preferred that they added their buttons to the actual dialog and made the QuickLook previews actually pop open a separate window like it does in Finder. Second, I think the main feature of setting default folders is something only a handful of people have troubles with in certain applications. Also, what is the point of adding yet another 'favorites'?
What I would really like to see is Apple (or, okay, a third-party developer) make it so that open/save dialogs work more like Finder windows - allowing drag and drop operations with itself and between other Finder windows, QuickLook, etc. You know, kinda like that other inferior OS has done for a long time.
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Jono said 10:59AM on 12-13-2007
Yea, looks useful, but way overpriced.
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Matt Young said 11:35AM on 12-13-2007
I have two licenses of DFX, both upgraded from earlier versions, and they are worth every penny. Having recently had to run for a while without DFX was brutal, I couldn't believe how much of what it does I had just taken for granted because it works so well. I started with DFX early on with OS X, because I had used the old Now Utilities for open/save dialog enhancement in OS9 and they weren't updating it for X. Default Folder X does all that stuff, and without all the crashing.
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Rhywun said 11:52AM on 12-13-2007
I think the command-R hint I read about the other day will satisfy my needs (it opens the selected item in Finder). Coming from Windows, I rather like the fact that the OSX dialog *doesn't* allow modifications. I can't tell you how many times I've mucked something up in a Windows open/save dialog because the damn thing is so over-engineered.
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NAVSTAR said 3:25PM on 12-13-2007
I spent $35 on Default Folder 4 years ago. That's a pretty good investment. It's invaluable after you use it for a week.
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Butch Hauke said 10:06PM on 12-13-2007
I ugraded immediately. I've been using Default Folder since the OS 9 days. It's an invaluable timesaver. The rebound to previously selected file feature is darn near worth the price of admission alone. I don't like the new heads-up display look, but you can turn it off in the prefs, so no big deal.
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Paul said 1:34AM on 12-14-2007
Johnny, the default folder thing is like the minor benefit of DF. In fact, there are so many features in this little enhancement, that there is probably something for almost every power user. I'm not even sure why it's called Default Folder. I personallly like the terminal tie in, the way it remembers your most recent folders, the ability to actually do things in open/save dialogs (rename, delete, something Windows does that the OS X doesn't for some reason) and it actually makes spotlight tags useful by giving you a tags entry right there when you save a file--where it should be. Sure, these are features that should be in OS X, but as someone else pointed out, they're not, and haven''t been, and after using it for 5 years myself, would have to agree. Though it is expensive, it's worth it over time and Apple is not adding this stuff to OS X (which is amazing). One thing you can bank on Apple NOT to do. Though they canobolize all sorts of other third party aps, they leave the Finder and system services wanting, constantly. Don't get this. They really need an advanced mode Finder (and system wide services like this).
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rampancy said 10:59AM on 12-14-2007
@Johnny: Go to Settings > Open & Save and disable "Show grey outlines of Finder windows when the mouse passes over them" to turn off the Exposé-like effect where it darkens your screen and highlights Finder windows.
Also, go to Settings > Options and change the toolbar style to "Small floating window", far, far superior (IMO) to the bezel option shown in the screenshot above.
@Jono: St. Clair has a fairly significant academic discount - I suggest you check it out.
And speaking of which, Jon Gotow (the main dev.) is a great guy to deal with - he answered an email at 3 am when I asked about the aforementioned discount. He even let me in on some of the hidden preferences (option-click on "Settings...") that I find really useful.
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