TheQwerty wrote:I still don't understand why you (or anyone else for that matter) would prefer visually comparing in a dual pane file manager over using an actual comparison tool.
Could you (or anyone else) please elaborate on this?
You know, I don't think this is necessary. I mean, this topic is a very emotional topic it seems and gets lots & lots of reaction, every time it's brought up.
It happened once again, and I think Mesh was pretty good at explaining why people might need a DP setup to get their workflow at his best (see his post above with files having many various names that must be copied/renamed/whatever)
At this point I think we can probably all agree that for many/some users DP might not really be needed, and many of XY fans know that often they don't even bother looking at what makes XY so unique just because it "lacks" DP.
Others might need DP for their workflow, and I feel Mesh clearly stated & explained that was the case for him, as well as having actually tried XY without focusing on the lack of DP.
I only first replied here because I really don't think it's fair to say that Don doesn't take into consideration the users' needs/wishes, far from it. But, as I said, DP is a very special case.
Maybe maybe it could be useful to some, maybe it would improve their workflow, and it's not that Don has been ignoring them, it's that while many ask for DP, not all are able to really justify a need for it (like Mesh or jc have done here), many of them just wants it because they're used to it from about everywhere else.
Clearly, that doesn't mean they actually really need it, or that an alternative ways of doing things couldn't be reached using other XY features. (Clearly, that doesn't either mean they don't need it.)
As jc reminded everyone here, the most used file manager might just be Windows Explorer, and it doesn't come with DP. Proving that a majority of users might just be doing fine without it. I would just say that either way, I don't think that because many do something or ask for something it means it's a good thing.
For something to be popular never meant it was good, the right choice, of quality, or anything else than just that it is popular. I hear hate is really popular around the world, many places have guns being popular, and last time I checked Windows Explorer was no where near being an actual good/powerful/efficient file manager.
XY doesn't aim to be just another file manager, or the file manager that comes with everything that you can find elsewhere. In fact, just the opposite : XY wants to be better, smarter, faster, more powerful & efficient yet still easy to use and smaller than the rest. It wants to be different, to be a real alternative.
To do so choices have to be made, and so far Don choosed other features over DP. Maybe this will change in the future, maybe it won't. I personally love the way this application has evolved and keeps evolving, and I trust Don to keep making the right choices, and such choices aren't only based on what the users want, even though it is part of the equation.
I personally agree that features like UDC, CKS, Scripting or Drop Stack are "better" choices than DP, but that might just be because I don't need to use DP.
Either way, I'm not really sure that anything else must be added now. We know why XY users love XY, we know why DP users need DP, I think both sides have made their points, and I'm pretty sure Don will not choose what to do next based on who's screaming louder, or have the last word
</rant>
Okay, I'm done.
ok, so it's not that great an idea, but just thought I'd mention it as I recall (I believe) it became the solution for another user... after all, you'd not the the full advantage of some features unless you saw more of a given file, so squeezing two panes on one screen would (to me) thus increase the need to have one dominate anyway.