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Comparison of file managers

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of notable file managers.

General information

More information Name, Developer ...
  1. Demo, trial or lite version available at no cost.
  2. Part of MS-DOS/PC DOS.
  3. Alexander Koblov also known as alexx2000.
  4. File Explorer previously known as Windows Explorer.
  5. Part of Microsoft Windows.
  6. Part of iOS.
  7. Berkeley Softworks later renamed to GeoWorks Corporation.
  8. Breadbox Ensemble founded as Breadbox Computer Company.
  9. Part of PC/GEOS
  10. Part of macOS
  11. GNOME Files formerly known as Nautilus.
  12. Midnight Commander also known as mc.
  13. The exact history is unknown. This date comes from changelog entries in the src/TODO file in the Git repository (SHA1: eb6b3842a). But it is probably earlier than that. Dec 1997 was release v4.1 already.
  14. Nemo is part of the Cinnamon (Desktop Environment).
  15. Path Finder originally known as SNAX.
  16. Part of PC Tools for DOS.
  17. Total Commander originally known as Windows Commander.
  18. ViewMAX was originally proprietary.
  19. Part of DR-DOS
  20. Shareware / Freeware
  21. Part of Xandros Desktop
  22. With 80+ other applications.
  23. US$29.95 Pro, US$49.95 Ultimate.[a]
  24. US$39.95 Standard License Pro, US$79.95 Lifetime License Pro.[a][32]
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Operating system support

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Cross-platform file managers

This table shows the operating systems that the file managers can run on, without emulation.

More information File manager, DOS ...

Mac-only file managers

*nix-only file managers

Windows-only file managers

iOS-only file managers

Android-only file managers

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Manager views

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Thumb
Icon views represent files and folders as large icons.
Thumb
Details + thumbnails views and favs-panel (bottom left)

Information about what common file manager views are implemented natively (without third-party add-ons).

Note that the "Column View" does not refer to the Miller Columns browsing / visualization technique that can be applied to tree structures / folders.

More information File manager, Family ...
  1. [m 1]
    Content Dependent (System) refers to a system which attempts to detect the dominant type of files in that folder and then select the most appropriate view mode for you automatically.
  2. [m 2]
    Optional image thumbnailer plugin since v0.3.4 (24/5/2007)
  3. [m 3]
    The text interface, which can be partially graphical with some plugins, such as embedded image/video viewers, for example. But the text interface is only emulated with the ConEmu mod - it is graphical and TrueColor in reality.
  4. [m 4]
    With the ConEmu mod or plugins.
  5. [m 5]
    Via multi-panel plugins or the ConEmu mod.
  6. [m 6]
    Column view is called Details view in Windows Explorer
  7. [m 7]
    Windows 7 introduces a Content view which shows details as well as thumbnails
  8. [m 8]
    Via "Mirrored Browsing" feature.

Twin-panel file managers have obligatory connected panels where action in one panel results in reaction in the second. Konqueror supports multiple panels divided horizontally, vertically or both, but these panels do not act as twin panels by default (the user has to mark the panels he wants to act as twin-panels).

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Network protocols

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Information on what networking protocols the file managers support. Note that many of these protocols might be supported, in part or in whole, by software layers below the file manager, rather than by the file manager itself; for example, the macOS Finder doesn't implement those protocols, and the Windows Explorer doesn't implement most of them, they just make ordinary file system calls to access remote files, and Konqueror either uses ordinary file system calls or KIO slave calls to access remote files. Some functions, such as browsing for servers or shares, might be implemented in the file manager even if most functions are implemented below the file manager.

More information File manager, SMB/CIFS ...
  1. [n 1]
    Support is provided by the underlying operating system.
  2. [n 2]
    Requires an additional licence (purchased separately)
  3. [n 3]
    WebDAV support in these file managers requires the installation of NetDrive or WebDrive.
  4. [n 4]
    NFS support in these file managers requires the installation of Services for UNIX.
  5. [n 5]
    Support is provided via a free third-party plugin.
  6. [n 6]
    From version 4.8.28 support for Samba will be removed. "Coming soon: 4.8.28; what's new".
  7. [n 7]
    Support is provided by GVfs
  8. [n 8]
    Support is provided by AVfs
  9. [n 9]
    NFS support requires either the freely downloadable Windows Services for UNIX or is built-in starting with Windows Vista Enterprise and Ultimate editions as Subsystem for Unix-based applications (SUA).
  10. [N 10]
    WebDAV is supported via Microsoft Windows' built-in Network Places/Mapped Drive functionality.
  11. [N 11]
    FTP support in these file managers requires the installation of NetDrive or WebDrive.
  12. [N 12]
    SSH support in these file managers requires the installation of SftpDrive or WebDrive.
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File features

Information on what basic file features the file managers support.

More information File Manager, Undo/redo file operation ...
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Browsing features

More information File manager, Symbolic links ...
  1. [B 1]
    Literal - meaning the size of the directory file itself, not the number or sizes of the files it points to (commonly called its "contents"). Typically a few kilobytes.
  1. [n 1]
    Support is provided via a free third-party plugin.
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Search features

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Information on what file searching features the file managers support. RegExp include the possibilities of nested Boolean searches, thus implicitly all file managers supporting RegExp search support also Boolean searches.

More information File manager, File name ...

Column Definitions (D)

  1. [D 1]
    using wildcards, subfolders
  2. [D 2]
    using wildcards, case match, whole word match
  3. [D 3]
    size, date, time, attributes (read only, hidden, archivable, etc.
  4. [D 4]
    [clarification needed] what/where is additional metadata?
  5. [D 5]
    [clarification needed] what is fuzzy logic and how is it useful?
  6. [D 6]
    Ability to save templates containing all search settings (file filter, metadata requirements etc.). Results of saves searches are always live, so not the results but the search conditions are saved.
  7. [D 7]
    Also known as iterative searches. For example the ability to finish one search and then perform a new search a) only within these results (intersect the two result sets / the requirements of both searches have to be met), 2) adding to these results (combine both result sets to a bigger set) or 3) subtract from those results (original result set reduced by intersection of result sets).

Entry Notes (s)

  1. [s 1]
    Altap Salamander Search offers RegExp for defining the file content.
  2. [s 2]
    Support is provided by the underlying operating system.
  3. [s 3]
    Support is provided via a free third-party plugin.
  4. [s 4]
    Can integrate with Beagle to provide more searching functionality.
  5. [s 5]
    Search intersection
  6. [s 6]
    One can search for file contents using the Text Contains field in the search window.
  7. [s 7]
    After searching results, user can apply advanced visual filters to narrow down results.
  8. [s 8]
    ZTreeWin provides several context specific search syntaxes that are not pure regex
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Extensibility

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Information on which parts of the application can be extended by plugins.

More information File manager, Filesystem support ...
  1. [e 1]
    Main change in Total Commander 7.50
  2. [e 2]
    User can change toolbar icons
  3. [e 3]
    In Far 2.0 & Far 3.0+
  4. [e 4]
    Unicode support depends on Mac OS version. Mac OS X's Finder includes full Unicode support, while Mac OS 8 and earlier does not. May be supported in >=8.1 and <=9.2 if using Unicode filesystems.
  5. [e 5]
    File and folder icons customizable on OS level and via folder properties
  6. [e 6]
    User can manually change icon themes including toolbar, file and folder icons. User can also change the color scheme to a pre-defined one or manually pick a color for each element in preferences.
  7. [e 7]
    User can change icon themes in preferences, which change the toolbar, file and folder icons. User can also change the color scheme to a pre-defined one or manually pick a color for each element (in preferences).
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Notes

External links

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