Third party File Explorer view clone for Mac Finder?

Brandnewuserid wrote:

Do any third party programs actually provide a ‘File Explorer type clone view’ for Finder, so showing two panes, with all and only fully expandable folders in the left pane, and the opened folders and all files in the right pane?

To save you some time, I checked those "ten-best" lists. The apps that I recognize are Path Finder and Commander One. Both advertise a "dual pane" user experience. I've never used either of them. But they are both apps that have been around for a long time, so I recognize them.

I'm a bit skeptical of Commander One because it is Mac App Store app. Obviously there's nothing wrong with that. It's a smart move from a business perspective. But it seems like a Finder replacement would be hamstrung by Mac App Store technical restrictions. To be fair, that's totally a guess on my part.

If not, plausibly, why not?

Because it is virtually impossible to make a living writing Mac-only software. So your chances of finding a high-quality, well-supported Finder clone is very low. And the future of the few such apps you will find is short. I checked out the developer of Path Finder and found pretty much what I expected - someone very similar to myself. Us old guys are getting more interested in retirement than writing great Mac apps. Those of us who still need to make some money before retirement probably realize that Mac apps aren't going to do that for us.

I did a similar check for Commander One and found the other most likely developer for such an app. While there is certainly nothing wrong with this, I do find it strange that such a significant portion of all Mac software is written by a small group of globe-trotting Ukrainian guys.

It's really not about people trying to argue with you about the Finder. They sincerely want you to have a good experience. Attempting to reproduce the behaviour of some foreign operating system is always going to lead to a poor user experience, regardless of platform. If you want to give your money to some indie developer, go for it. They certainly deserve it. I know I would never attempt such an app. As far as apps go, it would be relatively easy. But it's just a horrible marketing decision. And I'm an expert at horrible marketing decisions.

Well, the blunt answer is, "This isn't Windows." The Mac OS has worked as you see it pretty much from the beginning, other than the addition of the sidebar, which didn't exist in OS 9 and earlier.

You can try the App Store and put in File Explorer as a search. There are several attempts available from developers to try and make the file system look and behave like Windows.

Riccardo is right, you likely won't find a robust enough Finder replacement with enough developer staying power that will "acceptably" survive Apple's endlessly disruptive OS updates. PathFinder is likely your best bet - despite what I just said, it has been around for quite a while however I keep trying it out every release or two and there's always one or two issues I find almost immediately doing just ordinary things. Those issues often take the form of Apple hijacking some operation and undermining PathFinder by bringing up a Finder window, making it virtually impossible to truly dump the Finder for good. This is not like web browsing where you can pick a default web browser that's not Safari. The Finder does indeed have many, many, many flaws that Apple have stubbornly refused to fix or bother with since as far back as I remember. Browse for "FTFF Apple" to get a sense of what I'm talking about...

Sadly, if Apple are inclined to ever do anything with the Finder my biggest fear is that they'll also try to iOSify it (which I would hate to my very core).

Have a look at MuCommander. I used to use it, but it was a long time ago.

You do realize you can have as many Finder windows open as you desire, and open a new one to view a folder next to the parent view? I typically have 4 Finder windows open (in one of my 7 virtual desktops) and I open more as needed.

Brandnewuserid wrote:

but why don't the marketing and business side realize that Finder improvements such as making it more like a File Explorer interface, would really help sell the Mac to a new range of prospects?

I question how true that would be. People chose Macs vs Windows for a lot of reasons. I suspect that this is way, way down the list for most people. So, from that perspective, it doesn't make a lot of sense to sink resources into something that only matters to a niche audience.

Those of us who remember the days of "Multi-Finder" also know how change-averse a lot of people are. So, in addition to not appealing to very many people, changes in Finder would also cause many long-time Mac users to become apoplectic.

Of course, I could be wrong.

Sorry but you seem to contradict yourself

" Do any  third-party programs offer a “File Explorer-like” view for Finder.

A Third Party program is exactly that, Third Party

Finder is built into the operating system

Either you find an application elsewhere that performs to your expectations or use Finder

Predicated on user byline " Mac mini, macOS 15.2 " this would be macOS 15,2 Sequoia

You can explore how to use Finder from this link

Use the Finder on Mac

It is quit flexible if configured correctly for your usages

For continuity purposes

Available Finder Views and working with l… - Apple Community

https://www.techcommuters.com/best-finder-alternatives-for-mac/

https://www.simplymac.com/macos/mac-finder-alternatives

https://alternativeto.net/software/finder/?platform=mac

https://tutorials.osx86project.org/t/mac-finder-alternative-apps-2024/1866

Most of those responding to discussions.apple.com questions have “Drank the Koolaide” and use the Finder.

Or in my case iTerm2, because by day I write Unix file system software, and live in a terminal emulator 💻

That actually is a good question. Apple was first with the consumer GUI we all mostly know (which was inspired by Steve Jobs' trip to the Xerox PARC research lab).

Microsoft has borrowed a fair number of ideas from Apple. And I don't mean just the general idea of the GUI.

Such as, it was common for users of OS 9 and earlier to put aliases of the apps they used most often across the bottom of the screen for faster access. Microsoft kind of spun that into the task bar, which doubled as Apple's top of the screen menu bar. Apple borrowed part of that back as the Dock.

But the Finder has been very stagnant, development and idea wise for a very long time. The side bar did add a lot of options, but file and folder display options haven't changed. Or at least, very little.

The company I work for has thousands of Macs, and twice as many Windows systems. We have a strong internal Slack group messaging community, and while we get users switching from Windows to a Mac, we never get questions about File Explorer vs Finder.

Our Finder questions are almost always about file copy & paste and why Command-X (Cut) doesn't work, and why do they have to use Command-C, then Command-Option-V instead.

The majority of questions are about apps. What is the alternative to Microsoft Project, and WinSCP, and PuTTY, and Visio, and Notepad++, etc... Why does this app work differently on the Mac than it did on Windows (Outlook for example).

Users spend far more time in apps, and accessing files via the app's open file dialog box, then they do browsing the system via Finder or File Explorer.

I seriously do not think Apple is under a lot of pressure to make Finder look more like File Explorer.

However, you should make your suggestions known to apple at:

Feedback - macOS - Apple

Brandnewuserid wrote:

I agree with your points. I am suggesting only that a fifth view be added to the current four, so not disrupting anyone. Maybe that is impossible, but I wouldn't know.

Definitely use the feedback link!

Brandnewuserid wrote:

I did already post to Apple Feedback. My main point is to add a fifth view to Finder, if possible. I don't see how that would disrupt anyone with long Finder experience, since the other four views would be retained. Someone like me with one new Mac and several long-time Windows computers in the house would be more likely to transition to Macs entirely, with an optional more friendly (to Windows users) Finder View , and that may not be a niche group. It might be a significant group in size. So my main point is in a way about the marketing potential of the additional view to Finder. I could be wrong on that. I could be right.

Again, preaching to folks here isn't going to make that happen. We can't do anything bout it. Get all those people you think might switch to Macs if they had this view to submit feedback.