Finder (software)

Last updated

Finder
Stable release
14.2 / December 11, 2023;2 months ago (2023-12-11)
Operating system Classic Mac OS, macOS, GS/OS
Type File manager
Website support.apple.com/en-us/HT201732

The Finder is the default file manager and graphical user interface shell used on all Macintosh operating systems. Described in its "About" window as "The Macintosh Desktop Experience", it is responsible for the launching of other applications, and for the overall user management of files, disks, and network volumes. It was introduced with the first Macintosh computer, and also exists as part of GS/OS on the Apple IIGS. It was rewritten completely with the release of Mac OS X in 2001.

Contents

In a tradition dating back to the Classic Mac OS of the 1980s and 1990s, the Finder icon is the smiling screen of a computer, known as the Happy Mac logo.

Features

The Finder uses a view of the file system that is rendered using a desktop metaphor; that is, the files and folders are represented as appropriate icons. It uses a similar interface to Apple's Safari browser, where the user can click on a folder to move to it and move between locations using "back" and "forward" arrow buttons. Like Safari, the Finder uses tabs to allow the user to view multiple folders; these tabs can be pulled off the window to make them separate windows. There is a "favorites" sidebar of commonly used and important folders on the left of the Finder window.

The classic Mac OS Finder uses a spatial metaphor quite different from the more browser-like approach of the modern macOS Finder. [1] In the classic Finder, opening a new folder opens the location in a new window: Finder windows are 'locked' so that they would only ever display the contents of one folder. It also allows extensive customization, with the user being able to give folders custom icons matching their content. This approach emphasizes the different locations of files within the operating system, but navigating to a folder nested inside multiple other folders fills the desktop with a large number of windows that the user may not wish to have open. [2] These must then be closed individually. Holding down the option key when opening a folder would also close its parent, but this trick was not discoverable and remained under the purview of power users.

The modern Finder uses macOS graphics APIs to display previews of a range of files, such as images, applications and PDF files. The Quick Look feature allows users to quickly examine documents and images in more detail from the finder by pressing the space bar without opening them in a separate application. The user can choose how to view files, with options such as large icons showing previews of files, a list with details such as date of last creation or modification, a Gallery View (replacing the previous Cover flow in macOS Mojave), and a "column view" influenced by macOS's direct ancestor NeXTSTEP. [3]

The modern Finder displays some aspects of the file system outside its windows. Mounted external volumes and disk image files can be displayed on the desktop. There is a trash can on the Dock in macOS, to which files can be dragged to mark them for deletion, and to which drives can be dragged for ejection. When a volume icon is being dragged, the Trash icon in the Dock changes to an eject icon in order to indicate this functionality. Finder can record files to optical media on the sidebar. [4]

From Yosemite onwards, the Finder is updated to include a refreshed user interface with updated typography and translucency, along with a new icon. Functionally, it also contains official support for extensions, allowing synchronization and cloud storage applications such as Dropbox to display sync status labels inside the Finder display. [5]

macOS Big Sur introduces a complete graphical redesign of the Finder, along with the rest of the user interface, sporting the removal of the brushed metal interface elements, a full-height sidebar and all new iconography. Big Sur also slightly modifies the Finder icon with rounded corners. [6]

Reception

Stewart Alsop II in 1988 said "It is testimony to either the luck or vision of the original designers" of Finder that "the interface has been able to survive tremendous evolution without much essential damage" from 1984. He praised its spatial file manager as "probably a more complete definition of a PC-based universe than any" competitor, with users able to seamlessly use floppies, local and remote hard disks, and large and small file servers. Alsop said that even if Apple had stolen Xerox's technology for Finder, it was now very different. While criticizing the lack of a right mouse button and MultiFinder's clumsiness, he concluded that "Apple remains the king of user interfaces. Finder is the only interface with 1.5 million people sitting in front of it daily. Apple is spending tremendous amounts of money on both development and basic research to remain the leader". [7]

Introducing Mac OS X in 2000, Steve Jobs criticized the original Finder, saying that it "generates a ton of windows, and you get to be the janitor." [2]

Ars Technica columnist John Siracusa has been a long-standing defender of the spatial interface of the classic Mac OS Finder and a critic of the new design. [8] Daring Fireball blog author John Gruber has voiced similar criticisms. In a 2005 interview [9] he said that the Finder in version 10.3 of Mac OS X had become "worse than in 10.0" and that "the fundamental problem with the OS X Finder is that it's trying to support two opposing paradigms at once – the browser metaphor ... and the spatial metaphor from the original Mac Finder ... and it ends up doing neither one very well." Reviewing the same version of Mac OS X, Siracusa comments that the Finder "provides exactly the same self-destructive combination of spatial and browser-style features as all of its Mac OS X predecessors". [10]

Finder replacements

Third-party macOS software developers offer Finder replacements that run as stand-alone applications, such as ForkLift, Path Finder, Xfile, and XtraFinder. These replacements are shareware or freeware and aim to include and supersede the functionality of the Finder. After Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger the UNIX command line file management tools understand resource forks and can be used for management of Mac files.


Timeline

There are minor differences between Finder versions and Classic OS to System 7. From System 6 onward, the version numbers are unified.

Since the introduction of Mac OS X, the largest rewrite of the Finder was with the 2009 release of Mac OS X 10.6, into the Cocoa API, though little change was visible to the user. [11]

Timeline of Mac operating systems
ARM architecture familyx86PowerPC68kMacBook Air (Apple silicon)iMac ProRetina MacBook ProMacBook AirApple–Intel architecturePower Mac G5Power Mac G4iMac G3Power MacintoshMacintosh QuadraMacintosh PortableMacintosh SE/30Macintosh IIMacintosh PlusMacintosh 128KmacOS SonomamacOS VenturamacOS MontereymacOS Big SurmacOS CatalinamacOS MojavemacOS High SierramacOS SierraOS X El CapitanOS X YosemiteOS X MavericksOS X Mountain LionMac OS X LionMac OS X Snow LeopardMac OS X LeopardMac OS X TigerMac OS X PantherMac OS X 10.2Mac OS X 10.1Mac OS X 10.0Mac OS X Server 1.0Mac OS X Public BetaA/UXA/UXA/UXMacWorks XLMacWorks XLSun RemarketingMacWorks XLMac OS 9Mac OS 9Mac OS 9Mac OS 8Mac OS 8Mac OS 8Mac OS 8System 7System 7System 7System 7System 6Classic Mac OSClassic Mac OSClassic Mac OSClassic Mac OSSystem 1Finder (software)Finder (software)Finder (software)Finder (software)Finder (software)Finder (software)Finder (software)Finder (software)

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the graphical user interface</span>

The history of the graphical user interface, understood as the use of graphic icons and a pointing device to control a computer, covers a five-decade span of incremental refinements, built on some constant core principles. Several vendors have created their own windowing systems based on independent code, but with basic elements in common that define the WIMP "window, icon, menu and pointing device" paradigm.

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In computing, a window is a graphical control element. It consists of a visual area containing some of the graphical user interface of the program it belongs to and is framed by a window decoration. It usually has a rectangular shape that can overlap with the area of other windows. It displays the output of and may allow input to one or more processes.

The Dock is a prominent feature of the graphical user interface of macOS. It is used to launch applications and to switch between running applications. The Dock is also a prominent feature of macOS's predecessor NeXTSTEP and OPENSTEP operating systems. The earliest known implementations of a dock are found in operating systems such as RISC OS and NeXTSTEP. iOS has its own version of the Dock for the iPhone and iPod Touch, as does iPadOS for the iPad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Desktop metaphor</span> Concept used on desktop computer graphical user interfaces

In computing, the desktop metaphor is an interface metaphor which is a set of unifying concepts used by graphical user interfaces to help users interact more easily with the computer. The desktop metaphor treats the computer monitor as if it is the top of the user's desk, upon which objects such as documents and folders of documents can be placed. A document can be opened into a window, which represents a paper copy of the document placed on the desktop. Small applications called desk accessories are also available, such as a desk calculator or notepad, etc.

In Apple's Macintosh operating systems, labels are a type of seven distinct colored and named parameters of metadata that can be attributed to items in the filesystem. Labels were introduced in Macintosh System 7, released in 1991, and they were an improvement of the ability to colorize items in earlier versions of the Finder. Labels remained a feature of the Macintosh operating system through the end of Mac OS 9 in late 2001, but they were omitted from Mac OS X versions 10.0 to 10.2, before being reintroduced in version 10.3 in 2003, though not without criticism. During the short time period when Mac OS X lacked labels, third-party software replicated the feature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">System 6</span> 1988 Macintosh operating system

System 6 is a graphical user interface-based operating system for Macintosh computers, made by Apple Computer. It was released in 1988, and is part of the classic Mac OS series. It is a monolithic operating system, with cooperative multitasking based on an improved MultiFinder. The boxed version cost US$49, and it was included with all new Macintosh computers until 1991, when it was succeeded by System 7.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aqua (user interface)</span> User interface of macOS by Apple

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spatial file manager</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">At Ease</span> Computer software

At Ease was an alternative to the Macintosh desktop developed by Apple Computer in the early 1990s for the classic Mac OS. It provided a simple environment for new Macintosh users and young children to help them to work without supervision. At Ease replaces the Finder desktop, providing a simple tabbed panel-oriented graphical user interface in which applications and documents are represented by icons on large buttons. Aside from its security features, its interface and basic functionality is very similar to the Packard Bell Navigator.

In the Apple macOS operating system, .DS_Store is a file that stores custom attributes of its containing folder, such as folder view options, icon positions, and other visual information. The name is an abbreviation of Desktop Services Store, reflecting its purpose. It is created and maintained by the Finder application in every folder, and has functions similar to the file desktop.ini in Microsoft Windows. Starting with a period . character, it is hidden in Finder and many Unix utilities. Its internal structure is proprietary, but has been reverse-engineered. Starting at macOS 10.12 16A238m, Finder will not display .DS_Store files.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trash (computing)</span> Temporary storage for deleted files

In computing, the trash, also known by other names such as dustbin, wastebasket, and others, is a graphical user interface desktop metaphor for temporary storage for files set aside by the user for deletion, but not yet permanently erased. The concept and name is part of Mac operating systems, a similar implementation is called the Recycle Bin in Microsoft Windows, and other operating systems use other names.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mac OS X Snow Leopard</span> Seventh major version of macOS, released in 2009

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">OS X Yosemite</span> Eleventh major release of macOS (called OS X when released)

OS X Yosemite is the eleventh major release of macOS, Apple Inc.'s desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Classic Mac OS</span> Original operating system of Apple Mac (1984–2001)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Path Finder</span> File browser

Path Finder is a Macintosh file browser developed by Cocoatech. First released in 2001 simultaneously with the public release of Mac OS X 10.0 (Cheetah), it replicates or integrates most of the features of the Finder, but introduces additional functionality similar to that found in Windows's File Explorer, the defunct Norton Commander, and other third-party file browsers developed for a variety of platforms.

Comparison of user features of operating systems refers to a comparison of the general user features of major operating systems in a narrative format. It does not encompass a full exhaustive comparison or description of all technical details of all operating systems. It is a comparison of basic roles and the most prominent features. It also includes the most important features of the operating system's origins, historical development, and role.

References

  1. ↑ "Missing The Boat On Panther". Mac Observer. October 28, 2003.
  2. 1 2 Rothenberg, Matthew (January 4, 2000). "New OS X headlines Jobs keynote". ZDNet.
  3. ↑ Gruber, John (February 14, 2012). "Walter Isaacson's 'Steve Jobs'". Daring Fireball. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
  4. ↑ LeVitus, Bob (August 2011). "How to Burn CDs or DVDs in Mac OS X Lion". Mac OS X Lion For Dummies . For Dummies. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN   978-1-118-02205-4 . Retrieved June 29, 2014.
  5. ↑ Siracusa, John (October 16, 2014). "OS X Yosemite review". Ars Technica. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Apple introduces macOS Big Sur with a beautiful new design" (Press release). Apple Inc. June 22, 2020. Archived from the original on June 22, 2020. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
  7. ↑ Alsop II, Stewart (January 18, 1988). "Apple's Finder: Maturity in UI" (PDF). P.C. Letter. 4 (2): 4–5.
  8. ↑ Siracusa, John (April 2, 2003). "About the Finder..." Ars Technica. Retrieved December 20, 2006.
  9. ↑ Marcin Wichary (September 2005). "Interview with John Gruber". GUIdebook. Retrieved January 13, 2007.
  10. ↑ John Siracusa (November 9, 2003). "Mac OS X 10.3 Panther: Same as it ever was". Ars Technica. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
  11. ↑ "11 major new Snow Leopard features". Macworld. IDG. August 26, 2009. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
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