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

TotalFinder and XtraFinder are used by many. Most who use them are reporting positive results. I found them a bit cumbersome for my needs, but it is good to see some third parties picking up tbe options slack for those who need or prefer it. Very few negative reports here on either.

If you wish to argue with Apple then ring Apple. It hasn't worked for anyone else in the last couple of years but in your case the arguement seems so compelling, albeit in a long dead thread, that they may change back the colour tags for the tens and tens of millions of Mac users just so you can use your Mac as you did some years ago. You can also try the Contact Us link at the bottom of these pages. If we see it return, everybody will know who to thank.

Cheers

Pete

A brief summary, current as of August 2015, in an attempt to help anyone new looking for a solution:

• labels are no longer present in either Mavericks or Yosemite
• there are two third-party Finder plugins available which reinstate or mimic the old label behaviour for both folders and files
• one is called XtraFinder
• the other is called TotalFinder
• one is free, the other is but $9
• both are very simple to set up
• I cannot post direct links as it is against the TOU of this forum
• there are also other more expensive and complex third party solutions out there such as PathFinder (which is a complete replacement for Finder rather than a plug-in)
• both XtraFinder and TotalFinder may no longer work come El Capitan

Upgraded to Yosemite this week (from Snow Leopard!), discovered labels replaced by tags, looked for a solution, spent hours wading through this ridiculously mammoth thread which seems mostly to consist of about four users in a three-year argument, figured this summary might help other users avoid having to do the same.

ben pc: THANK YOU for posting that summary and saving me and others another several hours of wading!  I just did the Snow Leopard --> Yosemite upgrade myself, even later than you.    And thanks to everyone else for your helpful posts and complaints which I share.

I can appreciate the advantage of being able to "Tag" items with more than one Tag/colored dot.  But Apple should really also offer the option to highlight items with one color, since clear, bold highlighting is a vital productivity option that countless users rely upon.

OSX could easily show the full highlight as well as any other colored Tag dots off to the side, or offer the option of displaying either a highlight or Tag dots.  (Thunderbird Mail is an example of the dual functionality of a single highlight color but other colored tags being allowed, albeit not as elegantly as the dots.)

Feedback

Pete

I'm in the process of changing from Snow Leopard to Mavericks; I find it hard to call it upgrading.  I've been a Mac user for 26 years and watch You Tube videos of the 1984 Mac Commercial and the Mac vs PC guy to get my sarcastic laughs.  From a OS that encouraged creativity and personality, Macintosh has become even more rigid than the 1990s Microsoft.  Thank you for posing this; it makes the change process a wee bit les painful.

Sass

A lot of years has passed since Snow Leopard. 4 OSXs to be exact with a fifth to be released shortly and yet Apple users have grown amazingly. It's horses for course. If you prefer Snow Leopard then stay with it. It is just that it is no longer supported with Security Updates, which are now vital in this age of hacking. As far as productivity, our business has never performed better with the later OSXs and we are now looking forward to 10.11 and its increased interaction with iDevices that Corporations and businesses rely on so heavily these days. Remember that the whole demographics of Apple users has changed and the increased figures speak for themselves. Many millions of Mac users have never heard of let alone used the old OSXs such as Snow Leopard.

Cheers and Happy Computing

Pete

I went from Snow Leopard to Lion to Mountain Lion with no problems.

Mavericks was free, but I didn't like it. Yosemite, on the other hand, I'm quite happy with (apart from labels, but no-one at Apple has responded to my requests for their return).  Move up to Yosemite.

There's a new OS in the offing, but I'd wait till it's had a run.

I wish Apple wouldn't keep bringing out a new OS so often.

My workaround, not the best but helps restore Labels, slightly. I copy the icon of a generic folder that's the color I need and paste it on the new folder. It doesn't carry the color all the way across the window but it helps somewhat. Is it a pain in the neck to achieve something so very simple? Yes. Thanks Apple, two steps forward one step back.

Create custom icons for files or folders

I'm unhappy with flat screen monitors. Backwards step Apple!!

Pete

For two years, now, Apple has paid no attention to the multitude of users' complaints on the replacement of Labels with tiny little dots in Finder. Now, with the integration of System Integrity Protection (SIP) in El Capitan, two neat little apps that restored Labels (XtraFinder and Total Finder) have been rendered probably forever incompatible. It's time to bombard Apple with requests for the reinstatement of Labels. Remember when Apple thought eliminating "Save As..." was a good idea? Give Apple a piece of your mind here http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html

OK, have left feedback for Apple.

fiddledeedee wrote:

 

For two years, now, Apple has paid no attention to the multitude of users' complaints on the replacement of Labels with tiny little dots in Finder. Now, with the integration of System Integrity Protection (SIP) in El Capitan, two neat little apps that restored Labels (XtraFinder and Total Finder) have been rendered probably forever incompatible. It's time to bombard Apple with requests for the reinstatement of Labels. Remember when Apple thought eliminating "Save As..." was a good idea? Give Apple a piece of your mind here http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html

That is the fault of XtraFinder and TotalFinder Developers. They have had access to Developer betas for quite a while. Contact them as to when they may be updating to El Capitan compatibility.

ps. Save As is still there if you hold down the Option key when clicking on File in the menu bar.

Pete

I'm with ya! Doubt they'll listen though

Such a shame they got rid of this super useful feature.

That is the fault of XtraFinder and TotalFinder Developers. They have had access to Developer betas for quite a while. Contact them as to when they may be updating to El Capitan compatibility.

It's not a matter of updating or patching the software. It would require a complete rewrite of the software which in many cases doesn't make sense financially after having invested years of development.

It's not a matter of having the beta earlier or not, it's a business problem.

Apple concluded that nobody should be able to modify how OSX behaves in favor of more security. Personally I've never had a security problem with OSX, but I've had other problems that were fixed by third party developers such as the ones mentioned in this thread.

Pier11 wrote:

 

That is the fault of XtraFinder and TotalFinder Developers. They have had access to Developer betas for quite a while. Contact them as to when they may be updating to El Capitan compatibility.

 

It's not a matter of updating or patching the software. It would require a complete rewrite of the software which in many cases doesn't make sense financially after having invested years of development.

 

It's not a matter of having the beta earlier or not, it's a business problem.

 

Apple concluded that nobody should be able to modify how OSX behaves in favor of more security. Personally I've never had a security problem with OSX, but I've had other problems that were fixed by third party developers such as the ones mentioned in this thread.

Sorry, I'm losing track of your comments on the original thread. But it's not up to Apple to baby step third party developers who wish to make money from Apple's OSX.

They have had ample time to work with the beta program as most developers have. If they are lazy or irresponsible or they are losing money because very few users find their Apps of any use anymore, then that has nothing to do with Apple.

Also the Apps I mentioned have nothing to do with security, so I am failing to see your point.

Cheers

Pete