Comparison of file managers

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of file managers.

Contents 1 General information 2 Operating system support 2.1 Cross platform 2.2 Mac only file managers 2.3 Windows only file managers 2.4 Notes 3 Manager views 4 Network protocols 5 File features 6 Browse Features 7 Search features 8 Extensibility 9 Notes 10 External links

[edit] General information

Basic general information about the managers: creator/company etc.

File Manager	Creator	First public release date	Latest stable version	Cost	Software license
Altap Salamander	Altap	1997-08-15	v2.5 (2007-04-27)	US$ 30	Proprietary
DOS Shell	Microsoft	1988-06	?	Part of MS-DOS & PC-DOS	Proprietary
Dos Navigator	RITLabs	v0.90 (1991)	v1.51 (1999)	Free	open source
Directory Opus	Jonathan Potter, GPSoftware	Amiga: v1 (1990-01-03) Windows: v6 (2001-06-18)	v9.1.0.6 (2008-05-02)	AUD$ 85	Proprietary
Dired	integral part of Emacs, part of the GNU project	1978?	?	Free	GPL
Disk Order	LikeMac Group	2004-02	v2.3 (2006-05-31)	$22.57 USD	Proprietary
Dolphin	KDE	?	KDE4 beta2 (2007-09)	Free	GPL
emelFM2	tooar	2003-09-06	v0.3.4 (2007-05-24)	Free	GPL
F	Duy Nguyen & Michel Normand	2000 or earlier	v1.70 / 2.70 (2002)	Free
FAR Manager	Eugene Roshal (originally), FAR Group	1996	v1.70 (2006-03-29)	Free	open source
FreeCommander	Marek Jasinski	2004 (?)	2007-10-27	Free	Closed source
File Manager	Microsoft	1990?	v3.1	Part of Windows	Proprietary
Finder	Apple Inc.	1984-01	v10.5.3 (2008-02-11)	Part of Mac OS X	Proprietary
Gentoo file manager	Gentoo	?	v0.11.55 (2005-06-04)	Free	GPL
GNOME Commander	GNOME Commander	2001-08	v1.2.6 (2008-06-01)	Free	GPL
KFM	Kae Verens	2006-07	v0.9.2	Free	BSD
Konqueror	KDE	October, 2000	v3.5.7 (2007-05-22)	Free	GPL
Krusader	Krusader Krew	2000-07-11	v1.80.0 (2007-07-21)	Free	GPL
Magellan Explorer	Enriva	1999 or earlier (as Voyager 98)	v3.32 (2005-10-07)	$39.95	Proprietary
Midnight Commander mc	GNU Midnight Commander		v4.6.1 (2005-07-23)	Free	GPL
muCommander	Maxence Bernard	2002-02-17	v0.8.2 (2008-04-16)	Free	GPL
Nautilus	Eazel	2001-04-11	v2.18.0.1 (2007-03-12)	Free	GPL
Norton Commander	Peter Norton Computing, later Symantec corporation	1986	DOS: v5.51 (1998-07-01) Windows: v2.01 (1999-02-01)	?	Proprietary
Path Finder (originally called SNAX)	Cocoatech	2001-04	v4.8 (2007-10-02)	US$ 34.95	Proprietary
PowerDesk	VCOM	?	v6.04	US$ $39.95	Proprietary
ROX-Filer	Thomas Leonard et al	Before 2000-03-10	v2.5 (2006-07-07)	Free	GPL
SpeedCommander	SpeedProject	1993-05	v12.01 (2007-11-26)	€ 37.95	Proprietary
Thunar	Xfce	2006-01-22	v0.9.0 (2007-12-02)	Free	GPL
Total Commander	Christian Ghisler	1993-09-29	v7.03 (2008-04-24)	CHF 40	Proprietary
UltraExplorer	Jim Kueneman	2006-12-17	v1.5.0.3 (2007-12-26)	Free	GPL
Volkov Commander	Vsevolod Volkov	circa 1992	v4.05/4.99.08 (2000)	shareware/freeware	Proprietary
Windows Explorer	Microsoft	1995-08-24	v6.0	Part of Windows	Proprietary
WinSCP	WinSCP	?	v4.0.5 (2007-10-24)	Free	GPL
Xfile	Rixstep	2003-03-02	v1.8.0 (2007-02-19)	US$ 79.00 (with 80+ other apps)	Proprietary
xplorer²	Nikos Bozinis	2004-06-10	v1.7.1.3 (2008-05-13)	US$ 29.95 (lite is free)	Proprietary
XYplorer	Donald Lessau	1997	v7.00 (2008-03-31)	US$ 29.95	Proprietary
ZTreeWin	Kim Henkel	1996	v1.70 (2008-02-05)	US$ 29.95	Proprietary
NexusFile	JungHoon Noh (xiles)	1998	v4.2 (2002-12-06)	Free

[edit] Operating system support

[edit] Cross platform

The operating systems the file managers can run on without emulation.

File manager	DOS	Windows	Mac OS X	Linux	BSD	Unix	AmigaOS
Directory Opus	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes[1]
Dos Navigator	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Dolphin	No	No	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
emelFM2	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
F	?	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
GNOME Commander	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
KFM	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	No
Konqueror	No	Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Krusader	No	No	Yes[2]	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Magellan Explorer	?	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Midnight Commander	Yes	Yes[3]	Yes[4]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
muCommander	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?
Nautilus	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
ROX-Filer	No			Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Thunar	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Volkov Commander	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No

[edit] Mac only file managers

• Disk Order
• ForkLift
• Finder
• Path Finder
• Xfile

[edit] Windows only file managers

• Altap Salamander
• Directory Opus^[5][6][7]
• FAR Manager
• File Commander
• File Manager
• FreeCommander
• SpeedCommander^[8][9]
• Total Commander^[8][10]
• Windows Explorer
• X-file
• xplorer²
• ZTreeWin
• NexusFile

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Up to version DirOpus Magellan 5.5. Version 4 it is Open Sourced.
2. ^ Runs under X Window System
3. ^ Cygwin
4. ^ Runs in text mode inside Terminal window
5. ^ Amiga DirOpus v. 5.5 Magellan
6. ^ Amiga Diropus v.5.82 Magellan II, it is the last commercial version available for Amiga. Unregistered (but fully functional) version has been released with AmiKit distribution.
7. ^ Amiga DirOpus version 4 it has been Open Sourced and actually it is maintened separately
8. ^ ^{a b} Windows 95 and later
9. ^ Capability to operate within a web browser either as Internet Explorer ActiveX component or Mozilla ActiveX-Control
10. ^ Windows Mobile

[edit] Manager views

Information about what common file manager views are implemented natively (without third-party add-ons).

File manager	Icon view	List view[1]	Column view[1]	Thumbnails[1]	Details + Thumbs[1]	Grouping[1]	Content dependent[2]	Twin panel	Favs-panel[1]	Panel tabs
Altap Salamander	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	?	No
Directory Opus	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Disk Order	?	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	Yes	?	Yes
Dos Navigator	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	Yes	?	?
Dolphin	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	?	?
emelFM2	No	Yes	No	Yes[3]	?	No	No	Yes	?	No
FAR Manager	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial†
File Manager	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
FreeCommander	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	?	Yes
Finder	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes, with Cover Flow	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
GNOME Commander	No	Yes	No	No	?	No	No	Yes	?	No
KFM	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Konqueror	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes	Yes*	Yes	Yes
Krusader	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	No	Yes	Yes	?	Yes
Midnight Commander	?	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	Yes	?	?
Nautilus	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Partial
Path Finder	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes
PowerDesk	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
ROX-Filer	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No
SpeedCommander	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Total Commander	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Thunar	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	No	?	?	Yes	?
Volkov Commander	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	Yes	?	?
Windows Explorer	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes, with optional plugin [4]
xplorer²	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes[5]	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes
XYplorer	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
ZTreeWin	No	Yes	Yes	No	Partial	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
NexusFile	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	?	Yes	Yes	?	Yes

• Twin panel file managers have obligatory connected panels where action in one panel results in reaction in the second. Konqueror supports mulitple panels divided horizontally, vertically or both, but these panels do not act as twin panels by default (the user has to mark the panels he wants to act as twin-panels).

^ Via multi-panel plugins

[edit] Network protocols

Information on what networking protocols the file managers support. Note that many of these protocols might be supported, in part or in whole, by software layers below the file manager, rather than by the file manager itself; for example, the Mac OS X Finder doesn't implement those protocols, and the Windows Explorer doesn't implement most of them, they just make ordinary file system calls to access remote files, and Konqueror either uses ordinary file system calls or KIO slave calls to access remote files. Some functions, such as browsing for servers or shares, might be implemented in the file manager even if most functions are implemented below the file manager.

File manager	SMB/CIFS	WebDAV	NFS	AFP	FTP	FISH/SSH
Altap Salamander	Yes	No	?	No	Yes	Yes
Directory Opus	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes SFTP & SSL[6]
Disk Order	?	?	?	?	Yes	Yes (FTPS & SFTP)
Dolphin	?	?	?	?	?	?
emelFM2	?	?	?	?	?	?
Far Manager	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes†
Finder	Yes†	Yes†	Yes†	Yes†	Partial†	No
GNOME Commander	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	?
FreeCommander	Yes	?	?	?	No	?
KFM	[7]	[7]	[7]	[7]	[7]	[7]
Konqueror	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Krusader	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Midnight Commander	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Nautilus	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Path Finder	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes (Read Access)	No
ROX-Filer	[7]	[7]	[7]	[7]	[7]	[7]
SpeedCommander	Yes	?	Partial†	?	Yes	Yes
Total Commander	Yes	Yes. Plugin.	Partial†	?	Yes	Yes
Ultimate Commander	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	?
Windows Explorer	Yes	Yes	Partial†	No	Yes	No
xplorer²	Yes	Yes†	Partial†	No	Yes	No
ZTreeWin	Yes	Partial†	Partial†	No	Partial†	Partial†
NexusFile	No	No	No	No	Yes	No

• ^ Support is provided by the underlying operating system.
• ^ NFS support in these file managers requires the installation of Services for UNIX.
• ^ FTP support in these file managers requires the installation of Netdrive or Webdrive.
• ^ SSH support in these file managers requires the installation of SFTPdrive or Webdrive.
• ^ WebDAV is supported via Microsoft Explorer's Network Places.
• ^ Via a free WinSCP plugin

[edit] File features

Information on what basic file features the file managers support.

File Manager	File compression	File encryption	Rename busy files	File preview	File coloring filter[8][1]	File selection filter[1]	Paste clipboard as file	File and folder reports[1]	ACL (Access control list)	Mass Rename[9]
Altap Salamander	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes, multiple[10]	?	Yes	Yes[11]	Yes
Directory Opus	Yes	Partial†	Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	Yes
Disk Order	Yes	?	?	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?
Dolphin	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	?	?	No	?	?	?
emelFM2	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	?	Yes	No	?	Yes	?
FAR Manager	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	?	Yes
FreeCommander	Yes	?	?	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?
GNOME Commander	Yes	?	?	Yes	?	?	?	?	No	Yes
Finder	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	No	?	?	No
Konqueror	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Partial[12]	?	Yes	Yes[13]
Krusader	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes[13]
Nautilus	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Partial[14]	No	Yes	No
Path Finder	Yes	No[15]	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
ROX-Filer	With helper apps		Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
SpeedCommander	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Total Commander	Yes	Yes. Plugin.	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes
Windows Explorer	Yes	Partial[16]	No	Yes	?	?	Yes	?	Yes[17]	Partial
xplorer²	Yes	Partial[16]	Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes[18]	Yes
XYplorer	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes
ZTreeWin	Yes	Partial[19]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes

[edit] Browse Features

File manager	Browse compressed folders	Slideshows	Directory Sizes	Branch Sizes	Directory Compare	Synchronizer	Find as you type (Type-ahead find)
Altap Salamander	Yes	No	Yes	?	Yes	Partial (for remote folders)	Yes
Directory Opus	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Disk Order	Yes	?	Partial	?	Yes	?	?
Dos Navigator / NDN	Yes	?	Yes	?	Yes	?	?
Dolphin	?	?	Yes	No	No	No	?
emelFM2	?	No	Partial	?	Yes	?	Yes
Finder	No	Yes	Yes	?	No	No	Yes
FAR Manager	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
FreeCommander	Yes	?	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes
GNOME Commander	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Konqueror	Yes	Yes	Yes(with konq-plugin)	?	?	?	Yes
Krusader	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Midnight Commander	Partial[20]	?	Yes	?	Yes	Yes[21]	Yes
Nautilus	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
Path Finder	No	Yes	Partial	?	No	No	Yes
ROX-Filer	No	No	Yes	?	No	?	Yes, and browsing with tab completion
SpeedCommander	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Total Commander	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Windows Explorer	Yes	Yes	No	Partial	No	Yes	Yes
xplorer²	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
XYplorer	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
ZTreeWin	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes

[edit] Search features

Information on what file searching features the file managers support. RegExp include the possibilities of nested Boolean searches, thus implicitly all file managers supporting RegExp search support also Boolean searches.

File manager	File name/content search	Basic metadata search	All metadata search	RegExp	Boolean (nesting levels)	Fuzzy logic	Save searches[22]	Refined searches[23]
Altap Salamander	Yes	Yes	?	Yes[24]	?	?	Yes	Yes
Directory Opus	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Disk Order	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Dolphin	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	?
emelFM2	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	Partial	?
Finder	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	?
FAR Manager	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes†	Yes†	Yes†	Yes	Yes
FreeCommander	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Konqueror	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	?
Krusader	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Nautilus	Yes	Partial†	Partial†	?	?	?	Yes	?
Path Finder	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	?	No	No
ROX-Filer	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	No	?
SpeedCommander	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Total Commander	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Partial†
Windows Explorer	Yes	Yes	No	?	?	?	Yes	Yes
X-file	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
xplorer²	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
XYplorer	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
ZTreeWin	Yes	Yes	Partial	Partial[25]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

^ Can integrate with Beagle to provide more searching functionality.
^ Via plugins
^ Search intersection

[edit] Extensibility

What parts of the application can be extended by plugins?

File manager	Filesystem support	Attribute columns	File previews	Metadata indexing	Unicode support
Altap Salamander	Yes	No	Yes	?	No
Directory Opus	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes
Disk Order	Yes	?	?	?
Dolphin	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes
emelFM2	?	?	?	?
Far Manager	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes†
Finder	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
FreeCommander	?	?	?	?
Konqueror	?	?	Yes	?
Krusader	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial
Midnight Commander	Yes	No	No	No
Nautilus	Yes	?	Yes	?
Path Finder	?	?	?	?
ROX-Filer		No	Yes	No
SpeedCommander	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes
Total Commander	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	No
Windows Explorer	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes[26]	Yes
xplorer²	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes
ZTreeWin	Yes	No	Yes	?

^†In an early alpha version 1.80 as of Feb 2008

[edit] Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i} "Manager views" and "File feature" examples gallery:

   Icon views represent files and folders as large icons

   Windows Explorer on Windows XP.png List views display items in a sortable list

   Details + Thumbnails views and Favs-panel (bottom left)

   Grouping allows similar files to be grouped together

2. ^ Content Dependent (System) refers to a system which attempts to detect the dominant type of files in that folder and then select the most appropriate view mode for you automatically.
3. ^ Optional image thumbnailer plugin since v0.3.4 (24/5/2007)
4. ^ QTTabBar plugin
5. ^ Via "Mirrored Browsing" feature
6. ^ Requires an additional licence (purchased separately)
7. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l} Based on underlying operating system support
8. ^ Files matching certain user defined criteria (e.g. name pattern, attributes) are displayed in another color. Example: Since Windows 2000, the UI guide requires NTFS compressed files and folders displayed in blue, whereas uncompressed ones are black.
9. ^ Mass Rename is a feature to rename big amounts of files in a convenient way and including a preview, see
   

   

   Example screenshot of mass rename
   the screenshot for an example. Common options are subdirectory inclusion, wildcards, manual mode (offering to edit names as text files in editors), counters, time related fields (eg. "date created"), path related fields (eg. "parent directory name"), regular expressions etc.
10. ^ Altap Salamander offers to show only selected files and hide unselected ones, also in picture viewer etc. For selection, the usual wildcards and add/subtract/intersect with 1...N stored selections are offered.
11. ^ ACL is dependent on the type and version of file- and operating system. Altap Salamander offers quick access to owner, auditing and permission settings in WinXP with NTFS 5.
12. ^ Only text can be pasted as a new file.
13. ^ ^{a b} Needs KRename, an application that integrates into Konqueror and Krusader.
14. ^ Only text which is dragged from another program and dropped into a folder in Nautilus can be pasted as a new file.
15. ^ Path Finder apparently integrates with Knox, an encryption utility.
16. ^ ^{a b} The encryption feature in Windows 2000 Professional, Windows XP Professional, and Windows Server 2003 is in fact a user-transparent filesystem-level encryption feature for NTFS. The file manager merely enables or disables it.
17. ^ Via system File Properties dialog, NTFS-only. Must be enabled manually in Windows versions prior to Server 2003.
18. ^ Via system File Properties dialog, NTFS-only.
19. ^ Encryption is supported for Zip and Rar, other formats depend on the editable ARCHIVER.BB2 file
20. ^ Can browse .rpm .tar, .tar.gz, and .tgz files.
21. ^ Can be done in two steps
22. ^ Save searches: Ability to save templates containing all search settings (file filter, metadata requirements etc.). Results of saves searches are always live, so not the results but the search conditions are saved.
23. ^ Also known as iterative searches. For example the ability to finish one search and then perform a new search a) only within these results (intersect the two result sets / the requirements of both searches have to be met), 2) adding to these results (combine both result sets to a bigger set) or 3) subtract from those results (original result set reduced by intersection of result sets).
24. ^ Altap Salamander Search offers RegExp for defining the file content.
25. ^ ZTreeWin provides several context specific search syntaxes that are not pure regex
26. ^ IFilters

[edit] External links

• Softpanorama Orthodox File Managers page (Home of the OFM standard)