dual pane

[graham]

With the new dual pane feature added and thankfully optionally hidden away I really wonder what all the fuss was about - I have tried to use it but every time find it slow and 'in the way' when compared to tabs. I guess it serves a marketing need but for me it seems a complete waste of effort. The introduction of undo feature is the exact opposite - very much needed and will be a great asset, for me anyway.

Bet that has upset the DP die-hards but now XY is back on track I hope to see many new innovative advances rather than following the crowd.

My only big concern, which Don is very aware of, is the number of features in XY and how to ensure easy learning and appreciation to make best use of these. In the last 6 months I have been too busy to keep pace with XY and new changes seem daunting so what must it be like for the new guy buying XY - I do hope feature user awareness and training becomes a feature too!

[avsfan]

I was not one of those who was pushing for DP, as I really like the tab interface as well.

I still don't use DP as such, but I do use the option to swap panes, effectively giving me 2 windows in 1, each with its own set of tabs. This arrangement works very well for me...

I also agree that Undo will be a major addition, and am definitely looking forward to it!

[ReviewPilot]

Graham,
I recognize you speak for your part. But please don't speak for others. As there are many who need & use DP for a more productive environment.
Just because the kind of stuff you do with your computer does not include any need for DP, you don't have to blame it that way you do here.

For me, I'm very grateful that Don has included this great feature, and am looking forward to use only xy in future.


RP

[zer0]

Graham,
I recognize you speak for your part. But please don't speak for others. As there are many who need & use DP for a more productive environment.
Just because the kind of stuff you do with your computer does not include any need for DP, you don't have to blame it that way you do here.

For me, I'm very grateful that Don has included this great feature, and am looking forward to use only xy in future.


RP

I don't think Graham's review put words into mouths of others. There were (and still are) those who are very passionate about DP and there are those who are just happy with tabs or even just one tab. Any feature is only useful if a person benefits from it, that's why it's relative.

That being said, I do think that introducing DP was more to do with what's the de facto standard of file managers. There were quite a few people who wished for it and, usually, when there's a demand Don supplies, they managed to convince him to. Now I don't use DP, so it's not useful to me. It doesn't mean it's not useful at all. Personally, I put XY's own file copy/move operations and Undo above DP. Those 2 would be more useful to me. However, XY is not just about me, but at least I'm glad that Don's moving onto Windows 7 and he's going to take a time-out to do Undo.

Bottom line...those who use DP will appreciate its value, those who don't may not see it as useful. Each to their own. I just hope that having DP brought more customers and thus more people to the community to help XYplorer become better.

[PeterH]

Sorry - I'm not a native English speaker. But for me

With the new dual pane feature added and thankfully optionally hidden away I really wonder what all the fuss was about -

does not seem to say: "for my way of work dual pane doesn't fit very good",
but rather something like "people using dual pane are crazy and Don was stupid making it"

So I understand what ReviewPilot said.
If my understanding of English is wrong: please explain what these words should say.

[zer0]

Sorry - I'm not a native English speaker. But for me

With the new dual pane feature added and thankfully optionally hidden away I really wonder what all the fuss was about -

does not seem to say: "for my way of work dual pane doesn't fit very good",
but rather something like "people using dual pane are crazy and Don was stupid making it"

So I understand what ReviewPilot said.
If my understanding of English is wrong: please explain what these words should say.

It all depends on your interpretation. Your quote of what Graham said does not sound to me like saying "people using dual pane are crazy and Don was stupid making it". However, it also does not sound like "for my way of work dual pane doesn't fit very good". For me, it's somewhere between the two of those. He does sound like brushing away DP as something unimportant (to him) and I understand where he's coming from.

[j_c_hallgren]

I was not one of those who was pushing for DP, as I really like the tab interface as well.

I was one of those who was prodding for it, but gently (I hope) and not demanding it as some did, since I knew that would just make Don resist it more...and I did so for a few reasons, primarily to capture more of the market but also so that I could reduce my use of x2 as alternate FM for those times when I need a DP view for manual compares.

I still don't use DP as such, but I do use the option to swap panes, effectively giving me 2 windows in 1, each with its own set of tabs. This arrangement works very well for me...

I'm also finding that this way of using XY can be VERY beneficial! It's almost like having two full separate sessions of XY going, each with full width tabs and such...I can't see why anyone wouldn't be able to use DP in this mode, even if they wish to remain a SP user as that's sorta what it is.

[serendipity]

I'm also finding that this way of using XY can be VERY beneficial! It's almost like having two full separate sessions of XY going, each with full width tabs and such...I can't see why anyone wouldn't be able to use DP in this mode, even if they wish to remain a SP user as that's sorta what it is.

I fully agree. To me XY is more of a Dual side (DS) manager right now. Its easy to switch between two sides (like flipping coin) and i can keep some not so important tabs on the other side while keeping this side clean. Even SP fans will find this side effect of DP quite pleasing.
Do other file managers have such "Schizo" behavior?

[zer0]

I'm also finding that this way of using XY can be VERY beneficial! It's almost like having two full separate sessions of XY going, each with full width tabs and such...I can't see why anyone wouldn't be able to use DP in this mode, even if they wish to remain a SP user as that's sorta what it is.

I fully agree. To me XY is more of a Dual side (DS) manager right now. Its easy to switch between two sides (like flipping coin) and i can keep some not so important tabs on the other side while keeping this side clean. Even SP fans will find this side effect of DP quite pleasing.
Do other file managers have such "Schizo" behavior?

I probably (if ever) would only embrace DP once I get myself a bigger monitor. Right now I'm on a 19" LCD so having DP will make things rather crammed (I prefer side-by-side rather than one-on-top-of-another). A 24" monitor for, hopefully, Xmas should solve that problem.

[graham]

Review plot wrote :

I recognize you speak for your part. But please don't speak for others. As there are many who need & use DP for a more productive environment.
Just because the kind of stuff you do with your computer does not include any need for DP, you don't have to blame it that way you do here.

Trouble with retirement is you have time on your hands to follow up forum comments! Unfortunately I am totally unable to speak for others and their views since I have not met or know them and I have no interest in trying to sell my views to others either. Simply put this was my comment for my review of XY and DP introduction. I should add, I was in favour (for marketing expectations only) of DP at the time of Mesh's well constructed plea and I sincerely hope that it has brought new customers to XY. I really was hoping for the revelation of DP on XY to convert me as to its use and benefits but, for me, I stress me, it is not convincing or converting me. Now JC mentioned he had an occasional need for DP to do certain tasks and this is similar for me, XY does not do certain file management tasks I do but I simply use another program that is good at satisfying my requirements - problem solved. Same is true for FTP, ZIP files etc.

This raises the 'real' issue I was writing about and that is the vast array of features now in XY and how these are presented to the new user - maybe a phd in XY exploitation would do the trick but I firmly believe that the essence of elegant software is the apparent simplicity of use, intuitive approach and ease of learning. All of these goals are difficult to achieve and even more so as the product becomes bigger and more complex.

So, my view, mine alone and don't take offence if it is not the same as yours because you may be right and represent the market out there, I just represent me!