Why is the color labels function disabled by Mavericks?

Tags won't work for you ? >>> OS X Mavericks: Tag files and folders with colors and labels

Visually looking for a file that you've coloured in is not as efficient as using Tags and querying the file system for the files you want.

It may be familiar and deeply engrained, but using Tags and Smart folders offers much more effective ways of locating your files than simply scouring a large list of files for the one that's red.

Communicate to Apple about this issue, as I and many others have done, at:

http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html

MtD

You are right on, and I support your protest. Sometiems Apple does things that are incredibly stupid and thoughtless, and this is one of them. In the meantime, download TotalFinder, whice will add the colorful sidebar as well as bring back the colorful labels so many of us depend upon TO DO OUR WORK.

Free app called Xtrafinder restores all this and more

Try TotalFinder. In many ways it's a little bit better than XtraFinder.

Should not programmers adhere to a basic code of ethics: first, DO NO HARM?

If that were the case, we would still have punch paper tape, and 80 column punch cards, and 8" floppy disks, plus the 5.25 floppy disks, and the 3.5" floppy disks, RS-232 serial ports, SCSI ports, built in modems, etc....

Apple has never taken the position that something is Sacred. They were the first to throw away RS-232 ports. They were the first to throw away floppy disks. They have abandoned any number of ports on their own equipment ADB, SCSI, Mac video ports by the dozen, VGA, DVI, microVGA, microDVI, Ethernet ports, internal modems, etc...

On the software side there are lots of stuff Apple has stopped developing. They have done this over and over again.

The Xtrafinder and TotalFinder additions do give you back label behavior, so I suggest looking into them.

Besides the above mentioned feedback link, you can also use Apple's Bug Reporter <http://bugreporter.apple.com>, you do need to get a free Apple developer account, but it is free.

Mavericks dot 'Tags' are really unhelpful when you're used to full coloured strip. I found an app that someone wrote which allows you to customize elements to make up for some things that Mavericks doesn't do. I'm able to color folders, but it only shows when you view as single list in Finder window - not ideal, but it's better than nothing. Please correct me if you find a way to view colored tags in column/list view.

The App is by Tran Ky Nam and can be found here: http://www.trankynam.com/xtrafinder/

I hope this resolves some frustration experienced with Mavericks silly little dots!

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