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Finder, THE biggest thing I hate about OSX

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Senior member
Finder has to be the most frustrating about OSX if you're moving from Windows.

The whole UI of it is just weird, no matter which setting or view - it looks like its all aesthetics and very little utility.

Spesifically sorting is overly annoying. I want all my files to be sorted folders first in alpha order, files that start with (. _ 0-1 etc..) should be up top.

In Windows: 'AFolder' will show up after '_BFolder'

In OSX: 'AFolder' shows up first, and '_BFolder' gets treated like a 'B'

I can get similar behavior by ordering by Name, but then I get files mixed w/ folders - completely not user friendly.

Even MS' windows explorer does a much better job in my opinion..
 
Windows user confused when other operating systems don't work like Windows.

Later at 11: Water, still wet.

OP, now that I have had a little fun at your expense, have you tried PathFinder?
 
Personally, I like my folders mixed with the files alphabetically and don't like that Windows does not sort this way.
 
avp2306 said:
The whole UI of it is just weird, no matter which setting or view - it looks like its all aesthetics and very little utility.
Click to expand...
I'm curious, in what ways exactly? I'm biased I'm sure, but I've always found OSX Finder to be at least a little better (if not a lot) than Windows Explorer at most things. One thing I've always liked more about Windows is how Explorer functions work in Open/Save dials.

Spesifically sorting is overly annoying. I want all my files to be sorted folders first in alpha order, files that start with (. _ 0-1 etc..) should be up top.

In Windows: 'AFolder' will show up after '_BFolder'

In OSX: 'AFolder' shows up first, and '_BFolder' gets treated like a 'B'
Click to expand...
I don't get this, because for me, no matter how I sort, '_BFolder' comes before 'AFolder' in OSX- unless viewed by date where A is newer. Are you sure that's not what you're doing?

Also you can't start normal files and folders with . in either OS, so I don't get that mention, and numbering sorts logically in either OS.

I would say if you don't like files and folders sorted together in Name view, then simply don't mix files and folders in the same directories.
 
Zaap said:
I'm curious, in what ways exactly? I'm biased I'm sure, but I've always found OSX Finder to be at least a little better (if not a lot) than Windows Explorer at most things. One thing I've always liked more about Windows is how Explorer functions work in Open/Save dials.


I don't get this, because for me, no matter how I sort, '_BFolder' comes before 'AFolder' in OSX- unless viewed by date where A is newer. Are you sure that's not what you're doing?

Also you can't start normal files and folders with . in either OS, so I don't get that mention, and numbering sorts logically in either OS.

I would say if you don't like files and folders sorted together in Name view, then simply don't mix files and folders in the same directories.
Click to expand...

Documents Folder would be a likely place to have both files and folders mixed together I reckon.
 
TheStu said:
Windows user confused when other operating systems don't work like Windows.

Later at 11: Water, still wet.

OP, now that I have had a little fun at your expense, have you tried PathFinder?
Click to expand...

That is a very good suggestion. I also hate Finder with a passion, but PathFinder is a fantastic alternative. TotalFinder is pretty good also if you prefer to simply enhance the existing Finder experience.
 
DaveStall said:
That is a very good suggestion. I also hate Finder with a passion, but PathFinder is a fantastic alternative. TotalFinder is pretty good also if you prefer to simply enhance the existing Finder experience.
Click to expand...

Thanks, guys. I'l give these a try. I too struggle with the Finder in OSX
 
I love these kinds of posts, where OP comes in, complains for a minute, and then never returns.
 
Speaking of Finder, I am still on Snow Leopard so I am curious if this is still the common behavior. With vanilla Finder, if I create a new folder it always creates this new folder at the root level, not as a subfolder under whatever directory I am currently browsing. So, after making the new folder I need to find it and then drag it to where I really want it to be. With PathFinder or Total Finder this is fixed somewhat but it always seemed strange to me.
 
DaveStall said:
Speaking of Finder, I am still on Snow Leopard so I am curious if this is still the common behavior. With vanilla Finder, if I create a new folder it always creates this new folder at the root level, not as a subfolder under whatever directory I am currently browsing. So, after making the new folder I need to find it and then drag it to where I really want it to be. With PathFinder or Total Finder this is fixed somewhat but it always seemed strange to me.
Click to expand...

I think that's a bug. Because that is just about the dumbest default behavior I can think of.
 
Definitely a bug. (Or maybe trying to create folders in system reserved directories or something?) SL or any other version of OSX doesn't behave that way.

I'd clean install whatever system you're using cause something's screwy.
 
i have a macbook from 2006/2007 ish, i just dusted it off and install lion on it 2 days ago.. can't get use to it.. 1 mac in the house with 20 pcs. and i love the iphone 🙂
 
In windows, I always use the ability to click in the file explorer "address bar" and copy/paste/edit a path. Is there some way to do this with Finder?

I'd guess Finder vs. Windows Explorer is mostly personal preference, but I'll take Windows explorer any day. I find myself going to the command prompt in OSX to avoid using the Finder.
 
You can copy the path in OSX from the Get Info window of any file or folder. You can also just drag/drop any file or folder into terminal to get the path. You can drill down through directories in OSX just by command (or control) clicking on the directory name at the top of a window.

I prefer just to drag/drop file locations to open/save dials. I actually wish Windows had that feature as I use it far more often than copying file paths.
 
Knavish said:
In windows, I always use the ability to click in the file explorer "address bar" and copy/paste/edit a path. Is there some way to do this with Finder?

I'd guess Finder vs. Windows Explorer is mostly personal preference, but I'll take Windows explorer any day. I find myself going to the command prompt in OSX to avoid using the Finder.
Click to expand...

Just curious, why are using file paths so much? Not negative, just curious.
 
Knavish said:
In windows, I always use the ability to click in the file explorer "address bar" and copy/paste/edit a path. Is there some way to do this with Finder?

I'd guess Finder vs. Windows Explorer is mostly personal preference, but I'll take Windows explorer any day. I find myself going to the command prompt in OSX to avoid using the Finder.
Click to expand...

You can go to Finder -> View -> Show Path Bar. You see the path, and you can right click on the different directories and open a new Finder window with that location. Or as other people have said, simply drag the file or folder to Terminal and get the path. Or use the Column view if you just want to know where you are at all times. To go directly to a path, you can Apple-Shift-G and enter a path.

While I could navigate faster using Terminal, it would only be faster because of tab completion. The only thing I thing Explorer does appreciably better than Finder is handle lots of files, but that only comes into play when you are in the 10K+ range of files in a folder. Also being able to instantly refresh using F5. Otherwise, they are fairly similar. I guess it depends on why you want what you think you need to feel productive.
 
I find that I don't actually use the Finder that much in my normal workflow. I'm typically either in an application or a terminal window.
 
DaveStall said:
That is a very good suggestion. I also hate Finder with a passion, but PathFinder is a fantastic alternative. TotalFinder is pretty good also if you prefer to simply enhance the existing Finder experience.
Click to expand...

TotalFinder is just a bit better then finder, no go in my book.

Downloading PathFinder now..
 
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