What exactly is Finder?

Some of you might have seen a few of my posts by now and I am a first time mac user waiting for my Macbook to arrive in the mail. (have no patience!) So here is a novice question for you all:

what exactly is Finder?

on every mac i have used it is in the bar at the bottom and yet I cannot say I have ever used it. I assumed that it has to do more than just...Find things. After all, why else is Spotlight there?

A layman's definition would be great.

ps: i used the search function first, but to no avail.

Being so new to Macs, you should check out these links:

http://www.apple.com/support/mac101/

http://www.apple.com/support/switch101/

For example, here is lesson one:

The Finder

:black:

The Finder is simply put the file manager used by Mac OS X.

Every time you open a new window that displays files & folders on your computer, the window showing them is a finder window.

If you open a save dialogue in any application, you're actually looking at a finder file window.

If you enter a cd, attach a harddrive or connect to a network - the finder shows you the files.

That's the finder... and it currently sucks.

Well, the question makes me seem decievingly new. The thing is, I frequently used our schools Imac's or g4 powermacs to do simple word processing or very basic spreadsheet applications. I also have browsed, used itunes, and ichat. So i am not entirely new to the Mac world...I guess that Finder is just one of those thigns that is so essential and basic that you dont even think to understand initially. being a windows boy since day 1, i just assumed even the "finder folders' would be referred to as "windows" but that of course, is totally ignorant of me.


thanks for your help though!

Wow, this thread is so inspirational, truly. It makes me think. For a long time I always thought the whle folder structure of any OS is actually quite stupid. Why can't it be like Gmail Labels? I have a file that goes under Movies, but also under Funny.

Actually speaking, the finder is a stupid thing. There should be a GUI that can abolis this concept. See SymphonyOS (www.symphonyos.com).

I am glad you are inspired Yogi

NikBhat said:

Some of you might have seen a few of my posts by now and I am a first time mac user waiting for my Macbook to arrive in the mail. (have no patience!) So here is a novice question for you all:

what exactly is Finder?

on every mac i have used it is in the bar at the bottom and yet I cannot say I have ever used it. I assumed that it has to do more than just...Find things. After all, why else is Spotlight there?

A layman's definition would be great.

ps: i used the search function first, but to no avail.

Click to expand...

Basically, Finder is the equivalent to Explorer in Windows.

yogi said:

Actually speaking, the finder is a stupid thing. There should be a GUI that can abolis this concept. See SymphonyOS (www.symphonyos.com).

Click to expand...

I certainly would not say that the finder is "Stupid", but the idea behind what became the Finder, and Windows Explorer, is several decades old (the original concepts were first published in 1945 by Vanover Bush) and has been pushed to it's limits of use. Perhaps the better phrase would be "dated". The idea behind how Gmail labels or Symphony do things is a radically new way of dealing with a desktop and file structure concepts. Much of this new thinking will appear in new versions of OSX and Windows in the next few years, but how it will be received by the computer using public is a different story. People tend to like what they are use to and I suspect it will be a while before a radical change is accepted by the general computer using public.

Agreed. I couldnt really tell you WHY I like the explorer/finder format...I just..do? Mostly attributed to the fact that ive been using it since windows 3.1 in conjunction with a dos command line.

I also like the finder, but would not be disappointed if leopard had an improvement to it. I am ready for leapord to be released, can't wait for that... even if there are no finder updates.

PowerBookG4 said:

I also like the finder, but would not be disappointed if leopard had an improvement to it. I am ready for leapord to be released, can't wait for that... even if there are no finder updates.

Click to expand...

the rumors of tabbed finder windows are certainly intriguing. i would prefer that to having finder windows all over the screen sometimes.

Tabbed finder Windows were a feature of OS 8 and OS 9 IIRC. I liked them then, but the dock/folder combination seems a lot more efficient than tabs ever did, at least to me.

yogi said:

Wow, this thread is so inspirational, truly. It makes me think. For a long time I always thought the whle folder structure of any OS is actually quite stupid. Why can't it be like Gmail Labels? I have a file that goes under Movies, but also under Funny.

Actually speaking, the finder is a stupid thing. There should be a GUI that can abolis this concept. See SymphonyOS (www.symphonyos.com).

Click to expand...

Well, smart folders & spotlight are the first step to changing the way we interact with our documents...

You don't have to organize your data - spotlight can ideally just find it for you, by tags, comments, metadata and other criteria you specify.

The groundwork for a shift has been laid in 10.4, it'll be interesting to see how this evolves in 10.5 and 10.6.

Most windows XP users can find stuff on the web faster than on their desktop - how ridiculous is that?

I don't want tabbed finder windows, mainly because I drag and drop a lot.

Aptmunich said:

Well, smart folders & spotlight are the first step to changing the way we interact with our documents...

You don't have to organize your data - spotlight can ideally just find it for you, by tags, comments, metadata and other criteria you specify.

Click to expand...

That is one of the changes I was talking about. Lots of people are going to have a problem with this sort of thing.. How many folks here just throw everything in a folder and use Spotlight to find their stuff? Most current users would reject such an idea because they like having their computer organized and most are not used to having something as fast as Spotlight at their disposal.

Things like this are a big shift that will take a fair amount of time for users to adopt, and many never will. I’m not saying it’s wrong, just that it’s a pretty different way of thinking and doing than we are used to.

I agree, I'm still in directory mode and haven't used Spotlight very much.

Aptmunich said:

Well, smart folders & spotlight are the first step to changing the way we interact with our documents...

You don't have to organize your data - spotlight can ideally just find it for you, by tags, comments, metadata and other criteria you specify.

The groundwork for a shift has been laid in 10.4, it'll be interesting to see how this evolves in 10.5 and 10.6.

Most windows XP users can find stuff on the web faster than on their desktop - how ridiculous is that?

Click to expand...

Yes, that's exactly what I mean. Change will come (is coming) gradually, and I personally haven't had use for a smart folder yet, simply because I don't think different(ly) yet (how's that for a pun). I dislike nested folders, and Spotlight is just a thing you love to hate.

It's also not uniform all over the system. I sort my pictures by adding words to the comments part in iPhoto. But the Spotlight box in any media browser (like in iDVD) won't even regard the comments, while a normal spotlight search will. I want a dynamic search interface that let's me do quick advanced searches, let's me DRAG results out (where psotlight is limited again) and then that little search window should vamoose.

Computing needs a new face. A time will come when simple tasks become so cumbersome the public won't be able to use these old concepts anymore. When we have huge amounts of data that's hidden behind other data and clutter and a stupid "Microsoft User Data" folder in my Documents folder.

yogi said:

Y A time will come when simple tasks become so cumbersome the public won't be able to use these old concepts anymore. When we have huge amounts of data that's hidden behind other data and clutter and a stupid "Microsoft User Data" folder in my Documents folder.

Click to expand...

One could argue that we are already there, but most folks just don't realize it yet. I have over 2Tb of storage hooked up to my Quad, yet amazingly I can find almost anything I want within a few seconds because I know my file structure. While this is easy and workable for me, it's not easy or workable for large businesses and there are already various database methods used to get around it and sort it all. New file systems like we are talking about are likely to be embraced by such businesses to allow employees easy access to a whole range of documents over a network without having to use a browser to search an intranet site. Individuals using a home computer may not have a need for much of this sort of stuff anytime soon.

It's shocking how many people keep keep every file they've ever had in their Documents folder.

It's even more shocking how many of those same people can't find the Documents folder when they need to open something.

baggss said:

I certainly would not say that the finder is "Stupid", but the idea behind what became the Finder, and Windows Explorer, is several decades old (the original concepts were first published in 1945 by Vanover Bush) and has been pushed to it's limits of use. Perhaps the better phrase would be "dated". The idea behind how Gmail labels or Symphony do things is a radically new way of dealing with a desktop and file structure concepts. Much of this new thinking will appear in new versions of OSX and Windows in the next few years, but how it will be received by the computer using public is a different story. People tend to like what they are use to and I suspect it will be a while before a radical change is accepted by the general computer using public.

Click to expand...

Well put. :black: