Q: I hate the new tags in Mavericks, need coloured folders!!

Apple folks are smart enough to allow us the ability to choose either Labels or Tags.  I love the labels.  The link to the Apple comments was great.  Thanks.

Thanks Jumberbunch...your screenshot really shows the difference

What we have lost is the ability to simply colour code a file or folder.

In the old system if a colour label was added to a file or folder the whole file name including the .extension would display with that colour. Especially useful when looking at files in 'list display'.

Take this as the very simplest example: Three photoshop files in a folder, all requiring editing. The 1st file labeled Green meaning "Done". The second file labeled Orange meaning "In Progress", the 3rd labeled Red meaning "Still To Do".

This may seem petty, but to anyone working on multiple files this has always been something that "Labels" in the mac os has always been brilliant at. Not good news for operators working in Ad agencies, pre-press, etc.

The new Tags in Maverick are designed to do something completely different.

Perhaps Apple will soon see the error of their ways.

Send feedback to Apple :     http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html

Oh dear. What has Apple done? Which dimwit came up with the idea of the silly tag dots----those idiotic things I am hardly able to see. Of course the coloured labels were superior to this rubbish that's been forced upon us. Look,if there is somebody who is reading this who actually likes the new dots,fair enough. But couldn't Apple have implemented the dots alongside the coloured labels?

I have used colour labelling for years. Each week,with the help of those labels,I was able to sort out quickly and efficiently the work I needed to do. Now,though,this new system is hindering me....big time.

I have complained to Apple about this. I have also contacted developers of utilities (Onyx/MacUtil and others) to ask if they can come up with some solution. In the meantime,I remain annoyed.

Oh,and it has been said that the people at Apple do not read these forums. Well,they should,shouldn't they.

I already submitted my feedback here: http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html

And i just wanted to add to the (hopfully) tidal wave of responses. I agree with everyone here who defends the old color labelling system.

I totally understand and appreciate the tagging system. It's especially great for searching by tag.

But my lord, the color dots used by the tagging system are useless for anything but the simplest of work flows.

So they removed a fantastic and extremely helpful primary function (color labels) and replaced with a secondary, weak benefit (color tags) of the tagging feature. DUMB.

There aren't even enough colors to make the color tags useful. There's no reason color-less tags couldn't have been added as a feature, leaving color labels alone.

Column view (one of the biggest reasons I use a Mac) just got a whole lot crappier.

Agree, the small dots are insignificant - let's revert to the folder at least being filled.

I used Labels every day in my workflow, and they were absolutely invaluable.

Running an eye down a list of files, or even a group of folders, I could tell exactly where I was with things, using a similar system to Silly Old Codger.

I'd also use Labels if I needed to highlight a file or folder so I could see instantly the one I often returned to in a particular folder - say a folder of updates for a particular project.

There were other benefits of Labels, too, and I'm sure everyone had their fave uses for it.

But ... if you think about it, it would be hard to have both systems in place. How would a Tag dot look in a Labels line? I can't think of much use to me for Tags as they exist now, so I'd be happy to have Labels back and use only that, as I always have. But Tags and Labels co-existing seems unlikely, doesn't it? It pains me to say it, but I think this may be why Apple has dumped Labels.

Would be pretty easy to co-exist. Add a tag to something and then select it, see how the highlight colouring works you'd just have something like that but highlighted permanently in a colour of your choice.

Sorry, Jumberbunch, if I'm being dim, but I don't understand what you mean.

OOOOOOOOOOOF. whaaa?

i am loving iOS7 and i cannot believe they are going to take away my colored folders and files in Mavericks.

PRAISE BE TO GOD that i can't upgrade beyond Lion on my Mac Pro or my work life would be totallly trashed by now. on the laptop at least i can MAKE AN ATTEMPT to work around it.

NOT AN IMPROVEMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

get me back my colored folders and files.

i am in architecture and taking this away from me is crippling to my work life!

for god sakes. yes, one would hope so but apparently this option was not implemented?

i hate to complain but this was a bad move and i find it hard to imagine how they decided to just pre-emptively trash my organizational system...

;  (

yup. red was have to get taken care of quickly and/or needs to be sorted. green was creative to do. blue was business to do. magenta was some odd item that needed addressing. grey was personal information orange was had to be addressed soon....

thank god i didn't upgrade on my desktop or i would have been deep in the weeds for months...

Thanks for the link, already sent feedback to Apple.

I don't know why they can't implement tags in an independent manner (something like the comments) and leave the labels alone. There is completely no need to merge these two things into one. The folder / files highlight can coexist with tag dots very well in the visual effect.

Baronesa185 wrote:

 

I have to agree: I hate the new labels. I had things grouped together: for example, all my biology folders were green, all my research folders were blue... Now I can hardly see those dumb dots.

I also like the old Labels, but for you, Tags should be better.  You can Name your biology files "biology" and group them in Finder: