Are there other Directory Opus users here besides me? Has anyone
upgraded to Version 13? If, so, what do you think of its improvements
and changes? What do you like about it? What do you dislike? Is it
worth spending the roughly $33 USD for it?

On Tue, 13 Feb 2024 07:44:41 -0700, Ken Blake <Ken@invalid.news.com>
wrote:

>Are there other Directory Opus users here besides me? Has anyone
>upgraded to Version 13? If, so, what do you think of its improvements
>and changes? What do you like about it? What do you dislike? Is it
>worth spending the roughly $33 USD for it?

Will stay with 12. Too expensive for this "old goat" !!

KenW

Ken Blake <Ken@invalid.news.com> wrote:

> Are there other Directory Opus users here besides me? Has anyone
> upgraded to Version 13? If, so, what do you think of its improvements
> and changes? What do you like about it? What do you dislike? Is it
> worth spending the roughly $33 USD for it?

It costs $33 to upgrade? I can't tell the upgrade price because they
hide it behind their "upgrade" page at:

https://www.gpsoft.com.au/

I don't use it, so I don't have a registration code to enter to find out
the upgrade price. I see the new price is $89, so $33 is probably the
upgrade price. Geezus, where's the gold leaf wrapper on this product?

There are lots of *free* alternative file managers. If you need to add
[better] searching then get voidtools [Search] Everything ... which is
also free, and support both DOS wildcarding and regex. If you need to
view image files beyond File Explorer's preview pane, get VLC for
videos, and either XnView Classic or Irfanview for photos, and all are
free.

With zipfldr.dll integration into File Explorer, .zip files look like
folders. You can manipulate files within .zip archive files just like
you do with File Explorer. No need for 3rd-party archive tools, like
Peazip, 7-zip, WinZip, etc; however, you might still want one since
zipfldr.dll only adds basic .zip support versus 3rd-party tools that
support .zip and other archive formats, password protection, compression
level choice, and other features that zipfldr.dll was never intended to
handle. While Directory Opus says "Support for FTP and archive formats
like Zip, 7Zip and RAR", does that mean they integrate archive
managements as those they are folders making it easy to navigate into
and change contents just like those were regular files and folders? I
could tell from:

https://docs.dopus.com/doku.php?id=file_operations:creating_archives:zip_files

just how DO shows .zip files in its tree/file panes. From:

https://docs.dopus.com/doku.php?id=file_operations:creating_archives:adding_to_archives

archives are handled via context menu entries. Well, when you install
3rd-party archive utilities (7-zip, peazip, etc), they also add context
menu entries (aka shell extensions) in File Explorer.

I see mention of "Dual panes, dual trees, multiple tabs". That's nice,
but there are free file managers that do that, too. I don't need those,
either. If I want concurrent views of different folders or drives, I
can just open multiple instances of File Explorer. If I need them
prettied up by sitting side by side, like when doing comparisons, or
dragging files/folders between them, I can snap them to the screen
edges, or tile them vertically or horizontally. Tabs might be nice to
cut down on the total count of windows, but I certainly don't have to
pay to get that feature.

There are probably lots of extras in DO beyond what you get in File
Explorer, and perhaps with better integration of features rather than
using separate 3rd-party tools, but $89 is a hefty price, and why I
never bothered to even trial the product. $33 for upgrade is 37% of the
new price, but $33 is nearing where I might consider paying new price on
this product if I really wanted a different GUI and a suite of features
integrated into the product. Alas, a product that is a suite of
features is rarely as robust as best-of-breed standalone products.

DO has lots of configurability: theming, colors, fonts, editable
toolbars, floating toolbars/launchers, editable hotkeys, scripting to
create custome dialogs or commands, etc. You can so customize it that
no one else would know how to use DO on your computer, and you won't
know how to use DO, if present, on someone else's computer. Forget
about sharing or helping someone else with their computer using DO.
You're an island alone with DO.

To me, the lure of Directory Opus is the same lure as products that
combine a suite of products under one hood, like with Iobit stuff. It's
for folks that one one place to use less robust features than having to
deal with multiple more robust products, and for folks that are not
price sensitive (i.e., deep pockets).

As for FTP integration in DO, I'm not sure I would want FTP servers
blended into folder and files in the local file system. I use FileZilla
(which is, you guessed it, free). DO supports FTP (see
https://www.gpsoft.com.au/help/opus11/index.html#!Documents/FTP.htm),
but I didn't see mention of FTPS or sFTP. Filezilla supports FTP, FTPS,
and sFTP. Their doc shows specifying the username and password in the
ftp:// URL to the server for login to an FTP which is the worst way to
login as the login credentials are exposed in plain text. Ah, this:

https://www.gpsoft.com.au/help/opus12/index.html#!Documents/Adding_a_new_Site.htm

mentions FTPS and sFTP, but at version 12. I didn't find it mentioned
in version 11's online documentation. I didn't bother to read all
https://www.gpsoft.com.au/help/opus12/index.html#!Documents/Release_History.htm
docs to see when FTPS and sFTP showed up in which minor version of 12.
Could've been anywhere from Sep 2016 to Feb 2023. Version 13 is the
latest version which looks like it was released around Jan 22, 2024
(https://resource.dopus.com/t/directory-opus-13-now-available/48103).
They've been around for 34 years.

DO is a very nice suite of features, but way too pricey, especially
considering the plethora of free and often more robust alteratives.
Also, the only tech support you get is via their web forums (hopefully
they participate there often). For their high price, they should
provide phone support, or, at least, chat support, so you get immediate
and personal tech support. Or may 1 or 2 call tickets, and then you're
dumped into their forum to get support.

There are integrations from other vendors into File Explorer, like
WebDAV from Oracle, PTC's Windchill, etc. Microsoft publishes a guide
(https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/desktop/modernize/integrate-packaged-app-with-file-explorer)
on how to integrate with File Explorer. Use of shell extensions has
been known by many devs for a long time. Yes, DO has its interface for
integration (plug-ins), but which would programmers target: File
Explorer integration, or DO plug-in? A no-brainer there. Everyone
using Windows has File Explorer. A few Windows users will have DO.
File Explorer (explorer.exe) is both the file manager and the Windows
desktop manager. DO does only half the job. Integrations with File
Explorer extend to window management, too, like Power Toys.

If you're looking for a different GUI, and some additional features over
File Manager, perhaps look at some cheaper alternatives, like Total
Commander (~$45, 30-day full-featured trial, https://www.ghisler.com/).
I haven't looked at xyplorer2 for a long time ($30, 21-day trial,
https://www.zabkat.com/), but it still gets in the top 10 in reviews of
alternatives to Windows/File Explorer.

If money were no object (which is never true), yeah, Directory Opus is
interesting enough to trial provided you have enough time to dedicate to
a trial of it. Considering its new, and even its upgrade, pricing, no
thanks. I'll stick with free alternatives.