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journal: mac
Days of Leopard: Musings on the Finder
For legions of Mac OS X users, “Fix the F***ing Finder” has become a mantra, a battle call, if you will. For years, the Finder has gone mostly ignored, with little in the way of serious improvements. Sure Panther added the sidebar, but by and large the Finder has not seen much in the way of major enhancements since OS X’s release. The Finder needs a bit of help. Does Leopard finally fix the Finder?
Since we are still three days away from Leopard’s launch, all most of us--myself included--have to go off of as of now are screenshots of the Finder and videos posted on Apple’s web site. All I can do for now is speculate.
Finder’s flaws
In his many Mac OS X reviews over the years, John Siracusa of Ars Technica has dedicated a good portion of each review to the state of the FInder. In 2003, he wrote a ten-part essay on what was wrong with the Finder (at that point, Jaguar was the current OS X release) and how Apple could go about fixing it. His biggest gripes are, among other things, the lack of a true spatial (one window per folder) Finder and general inconsistency. There is currently the “browser” Finder mode and the quasi-spatial mode (triggered by clicking the pill button in the upper-right corner of the window) in the current Finder. I say it is a quasi-spatial mode because it allows for this sort of thing to happen:
That’s not exactly a one-window-per-folder spatial Finder, now is it?
Fixing the F***ing Finder
Siracusa’s solution to the inconsistency is fairly simple: partition the browser mode from the spatial mode. This would be accomplished by removing the oblong mode-switching button and giving the Finder back its full spatial paradigm. Next, he proposes a separate “Finder Browser Mode,” similar to what the Finder defaults to. He also would like to see the Finder leverage metadata better and include “live search folders.” Live search folders do exist in today’s Finder--we call them smart folders.
I am way oversimplifying it here. The only way to absorb it all is to read his magnum opus, About the Finder, to get the full scope of his vision for the Finder.
There has got to be an easier way to tag items...
My vision of the Finder is one that does not require ten pages to outline. Give me a Finder that is fast, consistent, and easy to use. Give me one that makes it easy to organize files by metadata. Give me one that makes it easy for me to tag my files--yes, Tiger has Spotlight Comments, but have you ever tried actually using them? It’s easier said than done. I don’t care if the Finder has a traditional spatial interface or a browser interface just as long as it kicks serious ass.
Above all, just give the Finder some love.
Could Leopard do the deed?
As I said before, I have yet to actually use Leopard. From what I have seen, though, it is quite possibly the biggest upgrade the Finder has seen since OS X’s inception. I look forward to the retooled sidebar, the easy access to shared machines, Quick Look, and so forth. CoverFlow seems as if it is more than just more eye candy. And better Spotlight integration (apparently the Spotlight window is gone; instead the Finder handles it) should have been present since 10.4’s inception. Also, don’t forget the optional path bar. If the path bar works the way I think it works (i.e. you can drag folders and files into the folder represented in it), moving files up in the folder structure just got a whole lot easier.
And yet there are questions. Will Leopard actually fix the Finder completely? I’m not so sure. The pill button is still present in screenshots, which suuggests we will still be seeing a mixed Finder environment. This tends to annoy me, especially when I mount a disk image to install an application and I want to drag the app’s icon over to the Applications folder sidebar icon. The only problem is that I can’t because disk image windows that open automatically do not show the sidebar or toolbar. It’s this sort of behavior where the FInder can’t decide what it wants to be that tends to grate on people.
I have not seen or heard about anything that makes adding tags and metadata to files--especially multiple files--easier, which is disappointing. I have not seen anything about more sorting options, either. Thanks to Spotlight, Mac OS X has access to lots of metadata, and yet the Finder never seems to leverage it. I want to be able to sort my flies by keywords or authors, among other things. As of Tiger this sort of thing just isn’t possible. As for Leopard, it remains an unanswered question for a few more days.
Conclusions
So yes, what I have seen from the Finder thus far doesn’t quite match up with what I’d like to see in my dream finder. But at the same time, there does seem to be a lot to like about it. The new Finder is, without question, the one new Leopard feature I am looking forward to the most. Well, that and Wikipedia integration in Dictionary. And while it may not end up being perfect in my eyes or the eyes of others, I will say one thing: it sure is nice to see the Finder get some love again.
So how about you? Does what you’ve seen thus far of the new Finder live up to your expectations? Is there anything else you would like to see?
Previous Days of Leopard articles
Days of Leopard is Deep Thought’s series of Leopard-related articles posted in the days leading up to and immediately following Leopard’s launch on October 26, 2007. Collect them all!
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| Nick | comments | views |
thinkback
I disagree with David’s opinion on Keywords.
If David were correct, iPhoto and iTunes would have no Keyword support because it’s tedious and takes too much time. There are uses for Keywords outside of music and photos and I think it’s better to have a central system for this in the Finder than having fragmented browsers built into various applications.
This is what is sad about the Leopard Finder - iPhoto and iTunes are more powerful for file management.
And “Comments” is not “Keywords”. Applications use “Keywords”, not “Comments”. You can’t go into Adobe’s file browser and look for “Comments”. Also, “Comments” doesn’t work on Windows.
Apple could very easily have the same exact Keyword utility in the Finder that they have in iPhoto. It’s just a simple palette that has buttons representing each Keyword and you select your files and then click on the Keyword buttons.
And Apple could easily have a button in the save dialog to bring up this same exact palette of keywords.
There are a lot of features that I will use immediately that I’m looking forward to.
The only three features of the “new” Finder I’ll probably use are:
1. Better Icon Preview support - can see PDFs and QT movies as thumbnails, finally.
2. Path Bar - can drag and drop files to folders in the path, which gives me a great feature in Column View but in List View and Icon View too.
3. New Folder Options - default view assigned to all folders? Great! Finally!
| Oct. 25, 2007 | ||
| 9:57 am |
Re: Siracusa.
I hate the Desktop metaphor and spatial Finder. It’s applying the limits of the physical world on your virtual world, which is insane, IMHO. And you have to create virtual solutions for the flaws of the physical world (pop-up folders so they get out of your way, F11 Exposé to get stuff out of your way).
| Oct. 25, 2007 | ||
| 10:02 am |
I’m absolutely over the moon that Apple have finally included a Path Bar in the Finder (I also hope there’s some way to copy the text path and perhaps even paste a text path into it).
The other big stumbling block before I could possibly switch to the Mac are the keyboard shortcuts. Command+O to open a file or go into a folder is just insane. Having to press Ctrl+Right or Ctrl+Left to go the end and the beginning of a line is a typist’s nightmare (it should be End and Home).
It would also be nice if the Apple key on the keyboard, when pressed by itself, showed the Apple menu.
I’m also hoping that there’s a way to unminimize a window that has been minimized into the dock using just a shortcut key. By my reckoning, simply Alt-Tabing to that application should uniminize it, but if that scares Apple’s user interface guidelines, then at least give us a keyboard command to unminimize it, I say.
I’m guessing you’ve downloaded tools for Windows… 
CMND O is Open in every application. Why wouldn’t it be in the Finder?
Copy and paste path can be done with this.
I like the arrow keys - CMND left/right for line, OPTION left/right per word. Makes sense. HOME and END are for the page.
Turn on Full Keyboard Access in System Preferences, or by pressing CNTRL F1.
CNTRL F2 highlights Apple Menu, use arrow key to select items
CMND M = minimize.
CONTROL F3 activates Dock
Left Arrow to select Dock icon
RETURN to unminimize selected icon
| Oct. 27, 2007 | ||
| 4:03 pm |
Thanks for your reply. I knew about most of those keyboard shortcuts, but the problem with most of them is that they’re not always as easy as they could be.
In the Finder, the most comment task is probably going to be moving around the folder structure and opening things, so why not make it as simple as possible, with only one key press? In all other operating systems, it’s enter, because that’s the logical single-key for that operation, because you want to “enter” the folder or “enter” the document, as in “go inside”. Sure, Apple can leave “Command O” as the default so as not to annoy loyal users, but there needs to be a way to change this to make it quicker and easier to use for those that want to enable it.
I did a Google search for “Tools for Windows” (I’m guessing that’s some kind of utility you’re referring to?) but found a lot of useless pages. Is there such a product to make life easier for Windows/Linux converts?
As somebody who has to, at various times, edit a lot of HTML, text, or batch files/scripts, having to press Ctrl Left and Ctrl Right all the time to jump to the beginning and end of the line is just downright irritating. Consider how many times you need to move to the beginning or end of a document compared to wanting to move the cursor to the beginning and end of the current line? I think the latter would occur at least ten times more than the former, so why not make it easy? As it is, using a Mac to navigate around text for editing purposes is like wading through mush; it just feels like you’re being deliberately slowed down for no good reason and you’re constantly thinking “Grrr, this should be easier”. As such, I could never switch to the Mac with simple keyboard navigation commands as un-simple as these.
Thanks for your reply. I knew about most of those keyboard shortcuts, but the problem with most of them is that they’re not always as easy as they could be.
That’s subjective, really.
In the Finder, the most comment task is probably going to be moving around the folder structure and opening things, so why not make it as simple as possible, with only one key press?
The most common keyboard shortcut, I’d guess, is to rename since most people, IMHO, use the mouse to open files and folders by double-clicking.
I prefer shortcuts be consistent throughout the OS and applications versus making them different for each based on what action is the most common per application.
n all other operating systems, it’s enter, because that’s the logical single-key for that operation, because you want to “enter” the folder or “enter” the document, as in “go inside”.
So on the Mac, it should take you back to where you were, or “RETURN”? 
I did a Google search for “Tools for Windows” (I’m guessing that’s some kind of utility you’re referring to?) but found a lot of useless pages. Is there such a product to make life easier for Windows/Linux converts?
No, I was referring to how everyone has PowerToys for Windows. Your first post made it seem like you were unwilling to download some simple utilities to change the behavior of OS X to make it suit you. There are a ton of utilities out there that do various things, just like in Windows, including macro utilities that let you assign pretty much any function to any keyboard shortcut. iKey is a good example.
As somebody who has to, at various times, edit a lot of HTML, text, or batch files/scripts, having to press Ctrl Left and Ctrl Right all the time to jump to the beginning and end of the line is just downright irritating. Consider how many times you need to move to the beginning or end of a document compared to wanting to move the cursor to the beginning and end of the current line?
Again, it’s subjective. I happen to prefer it to HOME END. To me, it makes more sense to use the arrows and it’s easier. Both methods require that I move my right hand over, but the Mac method works for both the line and the word. And if I press SHIFT, I can select a single character, or a word, or a line, all using the arrow keys to go left or right.
Left and right, to me, are functions of the left arrow and right arrow (directions), not HOME and END. To me, HOME means the beginning of the page and END means the end of the page. I don’t find it difficult at all.
What I do find difficult, though, is pressing CNTRL N on the PC for New Document versus CMND N.
Anyway, go to Versiontracker.com or Apple.com to find all kinds of utilities to customize OS X’s behavior. Good luck.
| Oct. 29, 2007 | ||
| 9:15 am |
Again, it’s subjective. I happen to prefer it to HOME END. To me, it makes more sense to use the arrows and it’s easier. Both methods require that I move my right hand over, but the Mac method works for both the line and the word. And if I press SHIFT, I can select a single character, or a word, or a line, all using the arrow keys to go left or right.
Left and right, to me, are functions of the left arrow and right arrow (directions), not HOME and END. To me, HOME means the beginning of the page and END means the end of the page. I don’t find it difficult at all.
I guess I’m just so used to reaching for Home/End for moving the cursor around, it’s second nature; I don’t even have to think about it. When it comes to considering a drastic change in one’s computer, fundamental things like these are important. I’ll see what I can find in Google…
That’s called muscle memory. LOL
I’m the same way, but with CMND arrows. You’ll get it. Good luck.
| Nov. 05, 2007 | ||
| 5:38 pm |
1.
Here’s a comment I received from a gentleman named David via email: