COMMANDER ONE REVIEW

File Management is important to every Mac user but Finder is not meeting up to the task, it's just too basic for Mac power users. If only it were easy to just go out there and grab a stronger one; That's why Eltima Software, a popular Mac apps developer, came up with Commander One. A great alternative to Finder, filling in the gaps Finder couldn't fill.

CommanderOne can be used for just about any file management task you need to undertake. Mac power users will enjoy all of the additional features available to them including the dual-pane.  We will dwell a little on commander one, commander one Mac, and commando one man army and how it works.

COMMANDER ONE REVIEW

Pros

·        Dual-pane file manager.

·        Unlimited tabs, with each tab holding the contents of a folder.

·        Tabs have independent settings.

·        Use Regular Expressions to perform complex searches.

·        Rename files as they are being moved.

·        User-assignable hotkeys.

·        Separate Pro Pack adds even more capabilities.

Cons

·        It doesn't support a single-pane view.

·        Pro Pack is a $29.99 upgrade.

Using Commander One

Commander One is a Finder replacement, but it isn't a completely new take on how file management should work. Anyone who has used the Finder will instantly recognize Commander One as being Finder-like, and that’s a good thing. 

There's no reason to reinvent what already works well, and that's the basics of what the Finder does: provide a view into Mac's file system that allows you to easily manipulate files. Commander One takes the basic Finder app and goes a few steps further.

When you launch Commander One, a dual-pane window will open, with a toolbar across the top that contains commonly used features, such as three ways to view files: quicklook, search, and file info (similar to the Finder’s Get Info). 

There's also a switch for viewing hidden files, an archiving button for compressing files, and an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) button for connecting to a remote file system, such as another Mac or perhaps your web server.

Below the toolbar, the window is broken into two panes. Each pane is the view into a folder on your Mac. Having two panes allows you to work with two different folders, and easily copy, move, and examine files.

In addition to the two panes, Commander One supports unlimited tabs, letting you open a view into more than just two folders at a time.

Finishing off the main window is a set of hotkeys that you can use for common functions, such as copy, move, and delete. You can also assign your own favorite hotkeys.

Commander One Views

Commander One supports three basic views in each pane or tab. Known as Full, Brief, and Thumb, the views correspond somewhat closely to the Finder's List, Column, and Icon views.

Each pane or tab can have its own view, so you can set up each pane's view the way that works best for you.

The two-pane view makes moving and copying files very easy, but one of the cons for Command One is that you can never set a single-pane view. You can drag the bar between panes to make one pane as big as possible, giving you close to a single-pane view, but that's all you get.

Commander One Special Features

As mentioned, Commander One has some additional features that makes it ahead of Finder.

Commander One has the ability to view files, including binary and hex data, without opening the files. This is similar to OS X’s Quick Look option, but Commander One supports additional file types commonly used by app developers and IT professionals. In addition, there's a built-in FTP and SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol) client for connecting to remote systems.

Pro Pack

Commander One is designed to allow add-ons to provide specific new features that a user may need. The first group of add-ons is called the Pro Pack and is available for $29.95 (Commander One is free). 

The Pro Pack brings the ability to mount iOS devices directly on your Mac integrates Dropbox, adds an FTP, SFTP, and FTPS (File Transfer Protocol Secure) manager, adds a robust compression and extraction engine that handles most common file compression types, and allows you to add themes, as well as a few more features.

Review

Commander One is designed for advanced file management and it does the job well.

Commander One provides additional file management capabilities at no cost (free) and offers more advanced functions as add-ons that you can purchase or not, depending on your needs.

In all, Commander One is a great file management utility and deserves a place in your Mac’s Applications folder.

Commander One is free. A $29.95 Pro Pack is available that offers additional capabilities.