Windows Explorer is fine for simple file management activities but when you have some serious work to do, you need a multi-pane pane file manager.You can use Directory Opus which he sees as the best product in this class, but which costs $59. A good free alternative is xplorer² lite. It offers a good part of the functionality of Directory Opus and is totally free. As a bonus, its user interface is very similar to Windows Explorer, so most users will find this tool easy to learn and use.
XYplorer is another strong contender. It uses a tabbed view rather than a two pane view which is better when working with multiple folders though not quite as efficient as the two pane approach when working with only two. XYplorer is packed with features included one of the best file-finders you can seen. It's one of those products that impresses more with use. In fact It suspect that if you use it for a month, you'll end up using it permanently. Until the 21st March 2006 it was freeware but has now morphed to shareware but a recent free version (V5.55) is available from the vendor's site.
Some folks just love FreeCommander, a classic two pane Norton Commander style manager. It's certainly powerful but I find the interface a little dated. However it's free for both private and commercial use and that's a big plus.
xplorer² lite
Website: http://zabkat.com/x2lite.htm
Download link: http://zabkat.com/x2lite.htm
Author: Nikos Bozinis
Date: 07/27/2007
Version: 1.7.0.5 LITE
Download file size: 1.1 MB
License: Free for private or academic use
Operating systems supported: Windows 95/98/ME/NT4/2000/XP/2003/Vista
64 Bit version available: no, but will run on 64 bit systems (see notes)
Portable version available: yes, download from 3rd party site http://usb.smithtech.us/apps/xplorer2lite.php
Other languages supported: Brazilian, Bulgarian, Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional), Czech, Dutch, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, Swedish
Additional software required: no
XYplorerFree
Website: http://www.xyplorer.com/free.php
Download link: http://www.xyplorer.com/free.php#download
Author: Donald Lessau
Date: 02/18/2008
Version: 5.55.0002
Download file size: 837 KB
License: Freeware
Operating systems supported: Windows 98/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista
64 Bit version available: no but will run on 64 bit systems (see notes)
Portable version available: program is already portable
Other languages supported: no
Additional software required: msvbvm50.dll - usually included in Windows installations (but not in Vista), available from here.
FreeCommander
Website: http://www.freecommander.com/
Download link: http://www.freecommander.com/fc_downl_en.htm
Author: Marek Jasinski
Date: 12/06/2007
Version: 2007.10a
Download file size: 2.1 MB
License: Freeware
Operating systems supported: Windows 2000/XP/Vista (Windows 98SE "is unsupported but might work" according to author)
64 Bit version available: no but will run on 64 bit systems (see notes), full 64 bit version planned
Portable version available: yes, separate download
Other languages supported: Arabic, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, Galician, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Korean, Mexican Spanish, Norwegian, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovakian, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian
Additional software required: no
Notes:
File managers that were written as 32 bit applications will generally work on 64 bit Windows, but functionality will be limited in two ways:
- Shell extensions (i.e., file context menu entries) of 64 bit applications won't appear in a 32 bit file manager.
- 32 bit file managers will not be able to access the "system32" directory of a 64 bit Windows installation, they will be deflected to the "sysWOW64" directory instead.