PS. Please don't say Terminal. I use the CL for development but for browsing & interacting with photos and documents of any substantial quantity I enjoy a UI.
If you have the folder already open in another Finder window, you can drag its icon next to the title in the titlebar (top of window.)
You can also drag a folder (or that icon) to Terminal to grab the path.
# Quicklook given file
ql () {
qlmanage -p $* 2>/dev/null
}
You can have something like cd .. in Finder using Cmd-up and cd - is Cmd-[. When you Cmd-click the icon in the window title bar you can see the whole path, which I use a lot too. Finally, I use Cmd-2 and Cmd-3 to switch between column and list view.
I can get by with these:
• Cmd+Shift+G ("Go to Folder")
• "View > Show Path Bar"
I did turn on a couple neat dock modes with Mountain Tweaks[1] and installed some quick look plugins for security certs and archive files but that's about it.
I found in this thread you can use CMD up to go to the parent. Why isn't there anything in the UI? edit: I guess it's File -> Go -> Enclosing folder. Seems like too many steps compared to Windows Explorer which is 1 click.
If you don't like using the keyboard:
* Right click on the title bar, choose "Customize Toolbar..." and drag the "Path" option to your toolbar. You'll then have a dropdown button to navigate to the parent and any ancestor of the current folder.
* Alternately, you can choose "Show Path Bar" in the View menu, and it will display your path at the bottom of the window. (You have to double click on an entry to go to it.)
Or, Cmd+Backspace to delete a file.
On Windows everything is logical, consistent and discoverable ~ every classical menu is accelerated via Alt + underlined letter in the menu title and shortcuts are stated in terms that actually appear on the keyboard! (e.g. A Windows menu item will say: Alt + Shift + T whereas an OS X shortcut will show you those weird symbols that nobody can ever remember, that are not even printed on the keys).
I also don't understand why apple doesn't allow "file cut", only "file copy".
I don't find Finder "awful" compared to Windows Explorer — quite the reverse in general. But if you're not used to the Mac's keyboard navigation standards (which have remained largely consistent since 1986 or so (i.e. HFS)) you may not realize it. First -- list view is the best view. Second -- the same keystrokes work in list view and in file dialogs.
- Cut & paste
- Hide dotfiles on Desktop
- Automatically adjust column widths
- Backspace to go to back
- Add "go up" to toolbar
- Add functionality to menus (e.g. new terminal here, new file (with templates), copy path, show hidden items, refresh, launch as root)
- Dual window
- Visual tweaks
- A few other niceties
SMB is slow for me on Mountain Lion, so Windows file shares are annoying. But that's not Finder's fault.
https://github.com/jbtule/cdto/releases
Add the app to the Finder toolbar then whenever you're in a folder and you want to open a terminal/iterm window in that folder just click the icon.
Also, when you're in a terminal window and you want to open a Finder window in that directory just run the command:
$ open .
Tip: In Mavericks you have to hold command+option to drag an app into the toolbar. I forget the key combo for dragging it to the toolbar in Yosemite, I want to say either just command or no key combo is required.
For a sort of online alternative to the finder, check out: http://are.na/.
I barely have need of Finder on a day-to-day basis. When I do use it, it's sufficient for what I need. No major complaints.
I'm a long time Mac user (since 1984) and the paradigms and shortcuts are ingrained. The current Finder uses a lot of them, so for me predictability around selection and navigation via keyboard is there and I've never really found it lacking. Look in Help for "shortcuts," and google for the same. There are a lot of them, and many are supported throughout the OS and most apps.
The only other mod is to show the full path in the finder window title:
defaults write com.apple.finder _FXShowPosixPathInTitle -bool YES
# then restart finder
osascript -e 'tell app "Finder" to quit'https://github.com/trishume/macranger
It's not quite ready for other people yet, it requires around 4 different components to work nicely, only 2 of which are public.
Okay, I'll say the second best option: Dired.
http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/emacs/Dir...
You haven't said what about Finder you don't like, so I've got no suggestions for you. For me, it does the job just fine. (Is it possible that you're just more accustomed to Windows?)
(I know you said not to, but for pretty much every file operation, I use the terminal.)