Comparison of file managers

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of file managers. Please see the individual products articles for further information.

1 General information
2 Operating system support
3 Manager views
4 Network protocols
5 File features
6 Browse Features
7 Search features
8 Extensibility
9 Notes
10 See also
11 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
A43	B. G. Miller	?	2.49 (2006)	Free	Closed source
Dolphin	Peter Penz	?	0.8.0	Free	open source
DOS Command Center Windows Command Center	Daniel Pantke	circa 1990?	5.1 DCC / WCC 2.1 (1998/2004?)	€ 19/29	Shareware
Dos Navigator	RITLabs	0.90/1991	1.51/1999	Free	open source
Directory Opus	Jonathan Potter, GPSoftware	Amiga vs 1 January 3, 1990, Windows vs 6 June 18, 2001	8.2.2.5 (Oct, 2006)	AUD$ 85	Proprietary
Disk Order	LikeMac Group	February, 2004	2.3 (May 31 2006)	$22.57 USD	Proprietary
EF Commander	EFSoftware	?	4.51 (January 12, 2006)	?	Proprietary
emelFM2	tooar	September 6, 2003	0.2 (August 26, 2006)	Free	GPL
F	Duy Nguyen, Michel Normand	2000 or earlier	1.70 / 2.70 (2002)	Free
File Manager	Microsoft	1990?	3.1	Part of Windows	Proprietary
freeCommander	Marek Jasinski	?	2006.06b (September 17, 2006)	Free	Closed source
Finder	Apple Computer	January, 1984	10.4.6 (Mac OS X v10.4.7, 2006)	Part of Mac OS X	Proprietary
Magellan Explorer	Enriva	1999 or earlier (as Voyager 98)	Version 3.32 / 7 October 2005	$39.95	Proprietary
Gentoo file manager	Gentoo	?	0.11.55 (June 4, 2005)	Free	GPL
GNOME Commander	GNOME Commander	August, 2001	1.2.3 (December 11, 2006)	Free	GPL
KFM	Kae Verens	July, 2006	0.7	Free	BSD
Konqueror	KDE	October, 2000	3.5.5	Free	GPL
Krusader	Krusader Krew	(July 11, 2000)	1.70.0 (February 12, 2006)	Free	GPL
Macintosh Explorer	Macintosh Explorer	(April, 2000)	4.4 (March 15, 2006)	US$ 15.95	Proprietary
MeeSoft Commander	MeeSoft Commander	January, 2003	1.2.8 (March 26, 2006)	Free	Closed source
Midnight Commander mc	GNU Midnight Commander		4.6.1 (July 23, 2005)	Free	GPL
MuCommander	Maxence Bernard	?	0.8 beta2 (February 27, 2006)	Free	Closed source
Nautilus	Eazel	April 11, 2001	2.18.0.1 (12 March 2007)	Free	GPL
Path Finder	Cocoatech	April, 2001 (originally called Snax)	4.5 (August 15 2006)	US$ 34.95	Proprietary
RageWork	Softrage	?	2.6 (March 20, 2006)	US$ 34	Proprietary
ROX-Filer	Thomas Leonard et al.	Before 10 March 2000	2.5 (7 July 2006)	Free	GPL
Servant Salamander	Altap	August 15, 1997	2.5 RC2 (October 27, 2006)	US$ 30	Proprietary
Thunar	Xfce	January 22, 2006	0.8.0 (January 21, 2007)	Free	GPL
Total Commander	Christian Ghisler	?	6.56 (January 3, 2007)	CHF 40	Proprietary
Turbo Navigator	Marko Vodopija	?	1.47	Free	Closed source
Tux Commander	Tux Commander	?	0.4.101 (February 10, 2004)	Free	GPL
Volkov Commander	Vsevolod Volkov	circa 1992	4.05/4.99.08 (2000)	shareware/freeware	Proprietary
Windows Explorer	Microsoft	August 24, 1995	5.1 (server 5.2)	Part of Windows	Proprietary
WinSCP	WinSCP	?	3.8 beta (December 12, 2005)	Free	GPL
XionDE.fm	XionDE TEAM	December 08, 2005	0.2.1	Free	GPL
Xffm	Xfce	?	4.2.3.2 / 4.4 beta 1 (4.3.90.1)	Free	GPL
Xfile	Rixstep	March 2, 2003	1.7.2 (December 24 2005)	US$ 79.00 (with 80+ other apps)	Proprietary
xplorer²	Nikos Bozinis	June 10, 2004	1.6.5.3 (December 4, 2006)	US$ 29.95	Proprietary
XYplorer	Donald Lessau	January 4, 1998	5.60.0002, (January 31, 2007)	€ 22.50; US$ 29.50	Proprietary
ZTreeWin	Kim Henkel	1996	1.50 (January 1, 2006)	US$ 29.95	Proprietary
Worker	Ralf Hoffmann	March 8, 1999	2.14.2 (January 30, 2007)	Free	GPL
File manager	Creator	First public release date	Latest stable version	Cost	Software license

[edit] Operating system support

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

File manager	DOS	Windows	Mac OS X	Linux	BSD	Unix
A43	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
DOS Command Center	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Directory Opus		Yes	No	No	No	No
Disk Order		No	Yes	No	No	No
Dos Navigator	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
emelFM2		No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
F		Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
File Manager	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Finder		No	Yes	No	No	No
freeCommander	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
GNOME Commander		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
KFM		Yes	Yes	Yes
Konqueror		Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Krusader		No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Macintosh Explorer		No	Yes	No	No	No
Magellan Explorer		Yes	No	No	No	No
MeeSoft Commander	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Midnight Commander	no?	Yes^[1]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Nautilus	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Path Finder		No	Yes	No	No	No
RageWork	No	Yes^[2]	Yes^[2]	Yes^[2]	Yes^[2]	Yes^[2]
ROX-Filer	No			Yes	Yes	Yes
Servant Salamander		Yes	No	No	No	No
Thunar	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Total Commander		Yes^[3]	No	No	No	No
Tux Commander		No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Volkov Commander	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Windows Explorer	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
XionDE.fm	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Xffm	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
xplorer²		Yes	No	No	No	No
XYplorer	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
ZTreeWin	Partial^[4]	Yes	No	Partial^[5]	No	Partial^[6]
Worker	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
File manager	DOS	Windows	Mac OS X	Linux	BSD	Unix

^ Cygwin
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e It's a cross-platform orthodox file manager written in Java
^ Windows 95 and later; also Windows Mobile.
^ XTreeGold
^ UnixTree
^ UnixTree

[edit] Manager views

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

File manager	Icon view ^[7]	List view^[7]	Column view^[7]	Thumbnails^[7]	Details + Thumbs^[7]	Grouping^[7]	Content dependent^[8]	Twin-panel (OFM)^[7]	Favs-panel^[7]	Panel tabs
A43	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	?	No
Beesoft Commander	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	Yes	?	?
Directory Opus	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes
Disk Order	?	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	Yes	?	Yes
DOS Command Center	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Dos Navigator	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	Yes	?	?
emelFM2	No	Yes	No	No	?	No	No	Yes	?	No
File Manager	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Finder	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	?	No	?	?
freeCommander	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	?	Yes	?	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	?	Partial	?	No*	?	Yes
Krusader	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	?	No	Yes	Yes	?	Yes
Macintosh Explorer	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	No	No	No	?	Yes
MeeSoft Commander	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	No	No	Yes	?	No
Midnight Commander	?	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	Yes	?	?
Nautilus	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Partial
Path Finder	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	?	No	?	Yes
RageWork	No	Yes	No	No	?	?	No	Yes	?	Yes
ROX-Filer	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes^[9]	No	n/a	Yes	?
Servant Salamander	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	No	No	Yes	?	No
Total Commander	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	?	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Tux Commander	?	Yes	No	?	?	?	?	Yes	?	?
Volkov Commander	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	Yes	?	?
Windows Explorer	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	No	?	No
XionDE.fm	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	?	No
xplorer²	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes^[10]	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes
XYplorer	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
ZTreeWin	No	Yes	No	No	?	Yes	No	Yes	?	?
Worker	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
File manager	Icon view	List view	Column view	Thumbnails	Details + Thumbs	Groups	Content dependent	Twin-panel (OFM)	Favs-panel	Panel tabs

Konqueror supports more than one panel, but it is not a true twin-panel file manager.

[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
Directory Opus	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes SFTP & SSL
Disk Order	?	?	?	?	Yes	Yes (FTPS & SFTP)
emelFM2	?	?	?	?	?	?
Finder	Yes^†	Yes^†	Yes^†	Yes^†	Partial^†	No
GNOME Commander	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	?
KFM	Based on underlying operating system support
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	?
RageWork	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
ROX-Filer	Based on underlying operating system support
Servant Salamander	Yes	No	?	No	Yes	Yes
Total Commander	Yes	?	Partial^†	?	Yes	Yes
Windows Explorer	Yes	Yes	Partial^†	No	Yes	No
XionDE.fm	Based on underlying operating system support
Xffm	Yes	?	Yes	?	?	?
xplorer²	Yes	Yes^†	Partial^†	No	Yes	No
ZTreeWin	Yes	Partial^†	Partial^†	No	Partial^†	?
File manager	SMB/CIFS	WebDAV	NFS	AFP	FTP	FISH/SSH

↑ Support is provided by the underlying operating system.
↑ NFS support in these file managers require the installation of Services for UNIX.
↑ FTP support in these file managers require the installation of Netdrive or Webdrive.
↑ WebDAV is supported via Microsoft Explorer's Network Places.

[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^[11]^[7]	File selection filter^[7]	Paste clipboard as file	File and folder reports^[7]	ACL (Access control list)	Mass Rename^[12]
A43	Yes	No	No	No	?	?	?	Yes	No	No
Directory Opus	Yes	Partial^†	Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	Yes
Disk Order	Yes	?	?	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?
emelFM2	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
GNOME Commander	Yes	?	?	Yes	?	?	?	?	No	Yes
Finder	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	No	?	?	No
Konqueror	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	Partial^[13]	?	Yes	Yes^[14]
Krusader	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes^[14]
Nautilus	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Partial^[15]	No	Yes	No
Path Finder	Yes	No^[16]	?	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?
RageWork	Yes	?	?	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?
ROX-Filer	With helper apps		Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	?	?
Servant Salamander	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes, multiple^[17]	?	Yes	Yes^[18]	Yes
Total Commander	Yes	?	?	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	?	Yes
Tux Commander	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Windows Explorer	Yes	Partial^[19]	No	No	?	?	Yes	?	?	No
XionDE.fm	No	No	?	No	No	No	?	No	No	No
Xffm	?	?	?	Partial^[20]	?	?	?	?	?	?
XYplorer	Yes^[21]	Partial^[19]	Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	?	Yes
xplorer²	Yes	Partial^[19]	Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes^[22]	Yes
ZTreeWin	Yes	Partial^[23]	Yes	Yes	?	?	No	?	?	?
File manager	File compression	File encryption	Rename busy files	File preview	File coloring filter	File selection filter	Paste clipboard as file	File and folder reports	ACL (Access control list)	Mass Rename

[edit] Browse Features

File manager	Browse compressed folders	Slideshows	Directory Sizes	Branch Sizes	Directory Compare	Synchronizer	Find as you type (Type-ahead find)
Directory Opus	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Disk Order	Yes	?	Partial	?	Yes	?	?
Dos Navigator / NDN	?	?	Yes	?	?	?	?
emelFM2	?	No	Partial	?	Yes	?	Yes
freeCommander	?	?	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	?
Finder	No	Yes	Partial	?	No	No	Yes
Konqueror	Yes	Yes	Yes(with konq-plugin)	?	?	?	Yes
Krusader	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Midnight Commander	Partial^[24]	?	Yes	?	Yes	Yes^[25]
Nautilus	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
Path Finder	No	Yes	Partial	?	?	?	Yes
RageWork	Yes	No		?	Yes	No	?
ROX-Filer	No	No	Yes	?	No	?	Yes, and browsing with tab completion
Servant Salamander	Yes	No	Yes	?	Yes	Partial (for remote folders)	Yes
ShowSize	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Total Commander	Yes	?	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes
Tux Commander	?	?		?	?	?	?
Windows Explorer	Yes	Yes	No	Partial	No	No	Yes
XionDE.fm	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Xffm	Partial^[26]	?	?	?	?	?	?
xplorer²	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
XYplorer	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
ZTreeWin	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes
Worker	Yes	Yes	Yes (optional)	No	No	No	Yes
File manager	Browse compressed folders	Slideshows	Directory Sizes	Branch Sizes	Directory compare	Synchronizer	Type-ahead find

[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^[27]	Refined searches^[28]
A43	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Directory Opus	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Disk Order	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
emelFM2	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	Partial	?
Finder	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	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	?	?	?	?	?
RageWork	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	?
ROX-Filer	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	No	?
Servant Salamander	Yes	Yes	?	Yes^[29]	?	?	Yes	Yes
Total Commander	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	Yes	?
Tux Commander	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Windows Explorer	Yes	Yes	No	?	?	?	Yes	No
XionDE.fm	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
xplorer²	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
XYplorer	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes (256)	Yes	Yes	No
ZTreeWin	Yes	Yes	Partial	?	?	?	Yes	?
Worker	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
File manager	File name/content search	Basic metadata search	All metadata search	RegExp	Boolean (nesting levels)	Fuzzy logic	Save searches	Refined searches

↑ Can integrate with Beagle to provide more searching functionality.

[edit] Extensibility

What parts of the application can be extended by plugins?

File manager	Filesystem support	Attribute columns	File previews	Metadata indexing	Unicode support
Directory Opus	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial
Disk Order	Yes	?	?	?
emelFM2	?	?	?	?
Finder	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Konqueror	?	?	Yes	?
Krusader	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial
Midnight Commander	Yes	No	No	No
Nautilus	Yes	?	Yes	?
Path Finder	?	?	?	?
RageWork	Yes	?	?	?
ROX-Filer		No	Yes	No
Servant Salamander	Yes	No	Yes	?
Total Commander	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	No
Tux Commander	?	?	?	?
Windows Explorer	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes
XionDE.fm	No	No	No	No
xplorer²	Yes	Yes	Yes	?
ZTreeWin	Yes	No	Yes	?
File manager	Filesystem support	Attribute columns	File previews	Metadata indexing	Unicode support

[edit] Notes

^ Cygwin
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e It's a cross-platform orthodox file manager written in Java
^ Windows 95 and later; also Windows Mobile.
^ XTreeGold
^ UnixTree
^ UnixTree

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k "Manager views" and "File feature" examples:

Icon views represent files and folders as large icons	List views display items in a sortable list	Column views allow multiple levels of the hierarchy to be open at once	Thumbnail views display images or contents of folders
Details + Thumbnails views and Favs-panel (bottom left)	Folder and File reporting. Here is an example of reporting to CSV file in XYplorer.	File selection filter. Example of file selection in XYplorer by typing a part of a file name or extension.	Color filters make viewing of files easier. Example of colorfilters in XYplorer.
Grouping allows similar files to be grouped together	Twin-panel views allow for simple side-to-side comparison

^ 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.
^ Sort by Type feature
^ Via "Mirrored Browsing" feature
^ 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.
^ 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.
^ Only text can be pasted as a new file.
^ ^a ^b Needs KRename, an application that integrates into Konqueror and Krusader.
^ Only text which is dragged from another program and dropped into a folder in Nautilus can be pasted as a new file.
^ Path Finder apparently integrates with Knox, an encryption utility.
^ Servant 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.
^ ACL is dependent on the type and version of file- and operating system. Servant Salamander offers quick access to owner, auditing and permission settings in WinXP with NTFS 5.
^ ^a ^b ^c 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.
^ Can automatically generate image previews.
^ Via shell context menu.
^ Via system File Properties dialog, NTFS-only.
^ Encryption is supported for Zip and Rar, other formats depend on the editable ARCHIVER.BB2 file
^ Can browse .rpm .tar, .tar.gz, and .tgz files.
^ Can be done in two steps
^ Can browse compressed tar files.
^ 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.
^ 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).
^ Servant Salamander Search offers RegExp for defining the file content.