Today I came across a new Finder replacement called XtraFinder. I’ve been using TotalFinder happily for the past few years but recently it’s become stagnant to the point I can’t really consider using it anymore.
I thought about going back to PathFinder, which is blazing fast, but since my version is out of date they just keep smashing me in the face with sell screens to update to the latest version, which was getting on my nerves since I got the previous version from a MacHeist and didn’t are to pay more money for a new version.
Another alternative I gave thought to was ForkLift, which is technically an (s)FTP client, but then I did some quick searching on the web and found XtraFinder. It seems to be pretty solid so far and has all of my favorite features of TotalFinder.
So, briefly, here are my favorite features of TotalFinder that are also available in XtraFinder:
Features in Both TotalFinder and XtraFinder:
- Tabbed Interface - I absolutely love the chrome-styled tabs. I realize Finder now has it (starting with Mavericks) but I don’t care. The Chrome-like tabs are just so sexy.
- Dual Panel - You can take two tabs that you have open and place them side-by-side for drag-and-drop moving—granted I’m generally a command line guy, but I have to admit this is a really nice addition.
- Folders first - XtraFinder (and TotalFinder) have the ability to show folders first, then files underneath—instead of mixing files and folders together alphabetically.
- Cut and Paste - The normal OS X Finder does not have a “Cut” option, you can only copy files, then delete them after you’ve pasted them somewhere else. Minor addition, but nice.
- System-wide shortcut keys allow for being able to swiftly transition between whatever app you were in and the Finder window. Note that for all other alternatives you can still create system-wide launch keys using a 3rd party tool like BetterTouchTool.
New features only available in XtraFinder:
- Double Clicking on Tabs allows you to enter dual panel quickly, without having to use the shortcut key, ⌘U by default, which is very convenient considering that if I’m using Finder, it usually means that I’m using my mouse in favor of my keyboard.
- Automatically adjust width of columns so that file names won’t get truncated. Extremely convenient.
- Light text on Dark Background for us night owls who love to stay up late in low-lighting situations, we can enable white text on a black background, which looks a little bit goofy, but I have to admit is very relaxing on the eyes.
- The New Terminal Here option in the context menu makes opening a new terminal in the current directory much more convenient than ever before. XtraFinder even provides configuration to select which terminal app to use. For example on my machine it detected Terminal, iTerm and even XTerm.
- It’s FREE.
I’ll install it later on my Retina Macbook Pro and attach some screenshots. Overall I give this product a 10/10 since I haven’t found anything wrong with it yet. I will post back later if anything comes up.