Alternatives To Finder?

Are there any (free) alternatives to the Finder application? Finder is good and all for basic needs, but it kind of makes looking in folder hierarchies a pain. This is one thing Microsoft Windows has over Mac OSX.

I'm tempted in writing my own application to fill my needs in this department for the Mac. It might be an ambitious project to have, but I'm up for the challenge.

 

Well, if your main purpose with Finder is to look for files hidden deep within folder after folder, have you tried Quicksilver? It can find and open applications, files, etc.

 

I do have QuickSilver, and I love it. I'm not that experienced with it yet, other than launching applications very quickly. But what if I wanted to view the entire folder hierarchy? The 3 views in Finder do not present hierarchical data that intuitively.

 

http://www.simplehelp.net/2006/10/08/10-os-x-finder-alternatives-compared-and-reviewed/

 

Nevermind actually, I completely forgot about the 3rd view option in Finder that display's the folder hierarchy.

 

Oh! That's what you were looking for . Well, glad you found it now.

 

Finder is much better than the explorer.

 

path finder is a really nice finder replacement. it isn't free ($35), but it works really well and has a ton more features than finder does.

 

I do agree with that. Finder is easy to look at your apps, music, videos, documents, and photos. In fact, I like how quickly I can add/remove programs in OSX. I no longer tremble at wondering if an application truly has been uninstalled anymore.

 

Hrm, I actually think Explorer has numerous advantages that Finder would do well to copy (the location bar for one)...

I like the file system though..

I would actually prefer if applications had more of an "uninstaller" if they save to any location outside the application package itself. Even with AppDelete, it's still a pain going through the libraries looking for leftover preferences and data.
Usually, the few kb of space they take up doesn't matter at all, but as a neat freak, I hate it.

 

I've actually given up on AppDelete . Nowadays I actually drag the application to the Trash, and then do a Spotlight search, Select All (Command + A) and then drag all to Trash. Bleh, I reinstall OS X every month or so anyways .

 

There are alternatives...
http://www.jennsbl.com/software_comparisons/uninstallers.html

Yank: Payware. has this "sonar" tech (sounds cool, no clue if it actually is useful). Basically you install your apps through it and it logs the files created and creates a script to uninstall those files when necessary - in theory. Development and support closed down earlier this year and hasn't been up for months though.

CleanApp: another payware, it also "journals" all the files created upon installation and even beyond, making uninstallation easy.

SuperPop: way outdated.

uApp: haven't tried yet. Seems to be similar to AppZapper, but documentation and reviews on it are quite...scarce. Free though

AppTrapper: ... even less known than uApp...and without the good rep

AppZapper - same "cautionary" problems as AppDelete, costs $, good UI though (if that's worth paying the $10 for). No revolutionary tech here.

AppDelete - nothing special here. Free. Does it's job fairly well with plenty of user oversight necessary. Basically the equivalent of a spotlight search + delete.

unInstaller - another one of those "scanning" uninstallers (as opposed to the journaling/logging type) - also payware.

DeInstaller - reads receipts from installer packages and uninstalls those only. free

AppCleaner - free...nice gui....haven't used it yet.

For the payware versions above, many offer a 5-use limit (you can uninstall 5 apps) before they stop working and you have to pay.
So here's a thought - for each of the above that advertises how great they are at finding "everything" - I wonder if you could use them to find each others' files that iterates each "trial use"...