[apatheticonion]

I say this with love for Linux. Controversially, I don't think there is a file manager available on any platform as good as Windows file explorer. MacOS finder is an actual joke. Gnome's files is a less feature-rich finder and Dolphin comes close but still lags behind Windows explorer IMO.

I'd love to see a shameless rip of of Windows explorer for Linux

[BoppreH]

That's fine, it's a very subjective choice. Here a few reasons why I preferred Dolphin:

- Tree view on main panel (can expand folders without navigating into them).

- Checksum validation under "properties".

- Filter function (like search, but faster and persistent across navigation).

- When dragging and dropping, explicit distinction between "move here", "copy here", "link here", and "move into new folder".

- Browsing SFTP drives natively.

- Native Git integration.

- Well integrated notifications for long operations.

- Disk usage statistics (technically "filelight"). Like WinDirStat, but with circles.

[GreenWatermelon]

Also:

- Press F4 to bring up a console that stays in sync with your window. Extremely powerful.

[1718627440]

> as good as Windows file explorer

In what way is the MS Windows file explorer good? It neither has tabs, side-by-side view, pattern selection, performant search, an UI, that doesn't regularly blocks and becomes unresponsive, etc... .

What feature does it have, that some other file manager, doesn't have? I can't think of any?

[wkat4242]

The unresponsive thing is because the whole explorer.exe still seems to be one big single threaded process. One thing hanging kills everything. Including stuff completely unrelated to the file manager like the task bar. So weird.

[dmitrygr]

> seems to be one big single threaded process

This option has existed since win2k IIRC:

Tools > Folder Options > View > Launch folder windows in a separate processed

[wkat4242]

I don't think that actually fixes the issue though. Perhaps there's some shared message queue that's blocking things? I don't know. I know I've had that on in the past and it didn't solve it.

[dmitrygr]

After enabling that, at most one single window hangs, not the entire explorer ui.

[philistine]

Whenever something is weird about Windows, it's for backwards compatibility reason. There must be no way to keep win32 and rewrite explorer.exe.

[solnyshok]

taskbar is very much related, it is an instance of explorer exe with some parameters, that makes it show as taskbar. Try killing explorer.exe in the task manager, when no other explorer windows is running.

[1718627440]

That's an implementation detail though. While I find that sensible, most users are not technical and still consider that to be unrelated and a bug.

[wkat4242]

Yeah it probably traces back to the time when Microsoft tied internet explorer into every part of the OS just so they wouldn't be forced to remove it.

They're really bad at modernising legacy parts of the OS. Even to this day parts of the old control panel exist and it's been like a decade that they've been working on it.

[1718627440]

> Even to this day parts of the old control panel exist

That is what keeps Windows usable though. I prefer them not the rip the last bits of sanity out.

[cam_l]

It does have tabs, you are probably just stuck on an old version because windows update broke.

The only feature that windows maybe kinda does better is the preview pane, but even then, it regularly loses certain file types and in the latest update it started taking 5 seconds or more just to render a text file.

Anyway, still doesn't come close to Dolphin.

[florbo]

fwiw Windows 11 Explorer does have tabs.

[1718627440]

Oh is that new? I haven't noticed that yet. Is it obvious how to use it? How do you use it? (C-T, C-W, C-Shift-T, ...?)

[plqbfbv]

Yep, close to regular browser tabs from my point of view. I don't know all the shortcuts, but the few that I used - CTRL+{T,W} - behaved like Chrome or Firefox.

[rkagerer]

I've been running tabs in file Explorer since windows 7. QtTabBar.

[sensanaty]

I would've agreed back in the Win10 days, but Win11 explorer is shit. I have a 9800x3d, literally top of the line CPU with a crazy fast brand new NVMe SSD, and Win11 explorer takes a good 3 seconds from time to time to load any folder on my system. VERY often, the explorer window is even blank as if it's loading a web application (it is) for a few seconds! There's some decent QoL like tabs and stuff like that, but I can't believe how fucking sluggish it is in regular operation, alongside all the other terrible changes M$ decided to make.

I upgraded back down to Win10 and plan on making it my absolute last Windows version I ever use, Win 11 is just unbelievably shit in so many ways even by M$ standards.

[xxs]

> file manager available on any platform as good as Windows file explorer.

How come? I can't think of a single redeeming feature of windows file explorer that I need (or use).

Heck, it effectively doesn't have text search (grep -R) and b/c it's so bad there is the "window search" service that even worse. It has the absolutely worst imaginable zip file (erm folder) reader as a side bonus. Security file permissions management is just horrid (along with the fact some of them are coupled with registry paths)

I don't recall seeing a correct file system operation time estimation.

Edit - since explorer.exe is both the shell and the file manager, and the former craps itself often enough (task manager or taskkill /im explorer.exe), it's another negative point.

[kwanbix]

It depends on your definition of perfect.

For me the perfect file manager is Total Commander or Midnight Commander or Double Commadner.

[0x073]

I tried to love the Linux file manager, but it's a mess with current fedora kde dolphin crashes randomly, mounted nas storage with smb or NFS (synology nas) is slower and depending on how you mount the storage some apps can't open the files.

Maybe the crashes could be solved with a more stable os like debian, but the explorer shell integration is on windows on another level with network storage.

[rizalp]

regarding dolphin mounted NAS storage issue, it could be due to KIO-Fuse location is not fixed https://invent.kde.org/system/kio-fuse/-/issues/18

[fluidcruft]

What specifically in Windows file manager are you talking about? I quite like Gnome's Files but mostly I like MacOS 's column mode and which it were elsewhere. I think it depends on what tasks you reach to the file manager for though.

[mihaaly]

> don't think there is a file manager available on any platform as good as Windows file explorer

Good joke, made my day! : )

(very sorry, it is late, would love to collect and expand in a dedicated thread later. a prime reason for hating to turn on my work computer - no Windows at home! -, me, the tech enthusiast since learned how to hold a screwdriver, is Windows Explorer. so many senseless inconsistencies with unfinished junk petrified into unmutable practicies that changing line of work where never ever need to use Windows again is getting increasingly attractive very fast. even goat herding sounds a sensible alternative sometimes)

[112233]

Does it still show "this folder is empty" while the OS is loading folder contents? And does Ctrl+A Enter stll launch all programs and files at once?

[httpsterio]

what else should ctrl+a and enter then do?

[112233]

Nothing. Opening selection of apps is such an arcane corner case it should not be the easiest to do thing, put it into twice nested menu. Same as typing should not delete selected text if there is no undo.

[jakubmazanec]

Not Windows Explorer; but I can't live without Total Commander.

[emeril]

check out directory opus - pretty much unmatched