J ohn Siracusa of Ars Technica has written an in-depth article that looks at the Mac OS X Finder. He pulls together some thoughts on what he considers to be wrong with the current Finder, and goes into great detail on what he thinks would make a truly great Finder. From the intro to the Ars Technica article:
Itis no secret that I donit like the Mac OS X Finder. Almost every article Iive written about Mac OS X has included a litany of criticisms, from small annoyances to fundamental philosophical differences. Some readers agree with my criticisms, and some disagree, and some arenit sure exactly what the problem is.
There was even a forum thread on the topic recently. The posts in that thread represent a broad range of opinions, many of which center on network performance and threading issues that are a lot narrower than my personal concerns. But I believe the mere existence of that thread, and others like it, is indicative of a larger malaise surrounding the Mac OS X Finder.
In the past, my thoughts on the Finder have been scattered throughout several articles. The topic has never been given the thorough treatment that I believe it deserves. In this article, I will attempt to rectify the situation. In the process, I will try to answer one of the most common Finder-related questions asked by readers: "Okay Mister Smartypants, how should the Mac OS X Finder work?"
Iim going to outline what I believe is a fairly conservative vision of what the Finder could be, and explain what makes it better than the current Mac OS X Finder--not just for me personally, but for all Mac users. To do so, I must start by defining some terms that have historically been a source of controversy and confusion surrounding this topic.
The article goes into great detail on this issue, and focuses mainly on the idea of a spatial interface. While much to wade through, the article is thought provoking, and a good read. You can read the full article at Ars Technica.